Certificate Examination for Biomedical Engineering (Class2) and Risk to Fail the National Exams

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate association between certificate examination for biomedical engineering (class2) (MEc2) and national exams for clinical engineer (CE) and medical technologist (MT). We retrospectively collected 450 students entered in NUHW from 2011 to 2015. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) was calculated using logistic regression models. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was employed to identify the optimal cut-off values of MEc2 score in determination of risk to fail the national exams. Compared to first try passer of MEc2, re-try passer and failure were associated with increased risk to fail the CE exam ([OR:8.53,95%CI:2.82-25.81] and [OR:39.93,95%CI:12.27-129.95], respectively). Moreover, re-try passer and failure were associated with increased risk to fail the MT exam ([OR:9.29,95%CI:4.17-20.67] and [OR:14.82,95%CI:5.92-37.15], respectively). The optimal cut-off scores for MEc2 were 70 (to CE exam) and 75 (to MT exam). MEc2 is an effective predictor of risk to fail the national exams.