More medical graduates pass the college of physicians entrance exam

Six out of ten medical graduates who took the entrance examination to the College of Physicians in January managed to pass it. This represents a total of 350 approved out of 641 applicants.

This passing percentage, which reaches 55%, matches the test known as the Costa Rica Medical Knowledge Examination (ECOM-CR), which was held for the second time in the country on January 25.

According to data provided by the College of Physicians, this 55% is significantly higher than the approval rate registered in the first call held in August, which was 26%.

Of the 219 applicants who re-took the exam in January after taking it in August, 103 managed to pass it, which is equal to 47.03%.

According to the College of Physicians, 93.46% of graduates of the School of Medicine of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) passed the examination, making it the university with the highest passing percentage.

UCR graduates are followed by University of Medical Sciences (UCMed) graduates with a 65.79% approval rate.

The College of Physicians reported that the International University of America (UIA) and San Judas Tadeo University recorded the lowest approval levels of their graduates with 22.68% and 28.57%, respectively.

“The results represent a significant improvement compared to the approval data from the first trial conducted in 2023. For the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the objective of implementing this examination is to improve the quality of professionals and to guarantee the population that future doctors have the necessary knowledge to provide them with the best care,” College President Margarita Marchena Picado announced.

One of the 641 applicants for ECOM-CR was from UNAN, from Nicaragua, and he won the exam.

Evaluation

ECOM-CR evaluated 140 clinical cases distributed in seven main areas and a total of 20 subfields of knowledge in general medicine.

These are surgery, internal medicine, paediatrics, gynecology and obstetrics, family and community medicine, psychiatry, research and medical ethics.

Blocks with approval at or above 70% strength include Urology and Peripheral Vascular, General Surgery and Surgical Emergency, Otorhinolaryngology, General Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency.

The areas that recorded approval between 50% and 75% were pulmonology, geriatrics, medical research and ethics, family medicine and community health, obstetrics, hematological and kidney diseases. Also Orthopedics and Traumatology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology, Psychiatry and Psychiatric Emergencies and Gynaecology.

Finally, the block in which applicants did not receive more than 50% approval is considered to have “the greatest opportunity for improvement”, which includes the areas of gastroenterology, dermatology, infection science, and neurology.

Graduates who pass the ECOM-CR are authorized to participate in the Mandatory Social Services Raffle, which will be held in February.

A second call for 2024 is scheduled for August.