Is there evidence of gender bias in the oral examination for initial certification by the American Board of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation?

Objective Unconscious bias (UB) may result in a prejudicial evaluation of another person and lead to unfair treatment. Potential gender bias risk exists in the scoring process on the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR) oral examination (Part II) because of the face-to-face interactions between candidates and examiners. This study was undertaken to determine whether performance on the ABPMR Part II Examination differed based on candidate gender or configuration of examiner/candidate gender pairings. The impact of examiner UB training on candidate performance was also assessed. Design Retrospective observational study of first time Part II PM&R Certification Examination test takers between 2013-2018 Results There were significant differences in pass rates (men 84%, women 89%) and mean scaled scores (men 6.56, women 6.81) between men and women (p

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