Do regulated resident working hours affect medical graduate education? Trends in the American psychiatry board pass rates pre- and post-2003 duty hours regulations†

Aims and method To assess trends of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology examination pass rates before and after the 2003 duty hours regulations (DHR). We obtained the pass rates for part I and II for years 2000-2010. Data were divided pre-DHR (2000-2003) and post-DHR (2007-2010). Results During the pre-DHR period, first- and multiple-attempt group pass rates were 80.7% and 39.0% which changed in the post-DHR period to 89.7% and 39.1% respectively. Similarly for the part II exam, the pre-DHR first- and multiple-attempt group pass rates were 60.2% and 43.5% respectively, which increased to 78.7% and 53.8%, among the post-DHR group. Overall, there was a significant increase in the first-attempt candidates pass rates for parts I and II, whereas multiple-attempt candidates did not benefit as strongly. Clinical implications The results suggest that the 2003 DHR may have had a positive impact on examination-based medical knowledge in psychiatry.