The Problem

Every year, emergency medicine (EM) residents take the In-Training Exam (ITE) to test their medical knowledge and predict the likelihood of passing their official written board examination upon completion of residency training. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires all EM residencies to include weekly didactics in order to build the knowledge base of residents and facilitate preparation for the written and oral American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) or American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine (AOBEM) examinations. These didactics, however, often consists of traditional lecture formats. In contrast, according to the testing effect, we know that taking a test on material improves retention more than just passively hearing or reading the information alone.
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