The American Board of Radiology Oral Board - First Time Exam Takers

The vast majority of first time examinees pass the radiology oral board examination.  Between 75% and 82% of first time test takers pass the American Board of Radiology (ABR) exam in any given year.  Most people who do not pass outright condition the radiology oral board examination. 15%-19% of examinees condition the radiology oral board.  A majority of people who condition the radiology board exam will pass the test when they repeat the conditioned subjects.  Only 2%-7% of first time test takers fail the radiology oral board examination.  Remember that this number includes people who did not even take the test because of a medical emergency, missed airline flight, family emergency, death, etc.  The fact is a very small number of people fail the test. Yet the vast majority of people are petrified about failing the oral board exam.  The fear leads to anxiety which is the primary reason people do poorly at the oral board exam.

Repeat Test Takers

The statistics are not as good for repeat radiology oral board exam takers.  However, between 54% and 69% of repeat oral board test takers will fall into the combined pass or condition category.  The failure rate for repeat test takers is between 30 and 46%.  Why the difference?  First, these people have already failed the radiology oral board exam once.  Their anxiety level has increased substantially (Especially if anxiety caused their first failure).  Second, they are likely in practice now rather than training.  Their opportunity to study has on average decreased.  In addition, they have probably had poor guidance on how to prepare for the oral board examination since they failed the first time.  Since no one has taught them to deal with the anxiety, their chance of success is decreased.  I believe the statistical difference would be eliminated if the repeaters learned to manage their anxiety and prepare for the test properly.

Exact ABR Statistics

The American Board of Radiology maintains statistics (stats)for pass rates for the written, physics, and oral portions of the radiology board examination on the American Board of Radiology (ABR) website at:  http://theabr.org/DR_Pri_Score.htm.  Realize that the radiology oral board pass rate only includes those who passed unconditionally.  Those who condition the radiology oral board examination are not included in the published pass rate.  The condition rate is generally high, making the fail rate quite low for first time test takers.