Relationship between resident-in-training examination in psychiatry and subsequent certification examination performances

Objective: This study analyzed the relationship between performance on The American College of Psychiatrists' Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) and the ABPN Part 1 examination. Methods: Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between performance on the 2002 PRITE and the 2003 Part 1 examination for 297 examinees. Results: The correlation between the PRITE global psychiatry and the Part 1 psychiatry scores was 0.59, and the correlation between the PRITE global neurology and the Part 1 neurology scores was 0.39. Conclusion: Although the PRITE and the Part 1 examination have different purposes and are developed independently, the significant correlations between scores on the two tests support the use of PRITE results to guide preparation for the Part 1 examination. Guidelines for PRITE scores associated with poor performance on the Part 1 examination are provided.