Initial Certification Research

Does the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Self-Assessment Examination for Residents Predict the Chances of Passing the Part I Board Certification Examination?

Samuel J. Lee, MD, is an ABPMR diplomate and volunteer (Part II 2025 and 2026 and 2023 Part I Practice Analysis) who serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Loma Linda University. He also holds several leadership roles, including residency program director, assistant medical director of inpatient rehabilitation, and vice chair of the department.

Nearly all PM&R residents take the Self-Assessment Exam for Residents (SAE-R) offered by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). The SAE-R is used by residency programs to assess resident knowledge and by residents in preparation for the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Certification Examination (ABPMR-CE) Part I.

This paper was an update to the 2017 paper by Massagli, et al, “Does the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Self-Assessment Examination for Residents Predict the Chances of Passing the Part I Board Certification Examination?”, which showed that raw scores of >80 on the SAE-R had an 80% or greater chance of passing the ABPMR-CE Part I exam and raw scores of >90 on the SAE-R had a 95% chance of passing the ABPMR-CE Part I exam.

This paper used a larger data set from 2015 to 2024 and developed probability models for predicting passing for a PGY-4 test taker. The score groups were divided into three criterion-referenced score groups of Failing, Just Passing, and Comfortably Passing. In addition, the highest Youden Index indicated an SAE-R raw score of 105 is the optimal cut-point and associated with a 9.2% chance of failing the ABPMR-CE Part I.

To read the full research article click here.

Samuel J. Lee, MD; Victoria M. Tran, MD; Duc A. Tran, MD; Mikaela M. Raddatz, PhD; Sarah M. Eickmeyer, MD; Vu Q. Nguyen, MD