NBME Psychometrician Recognized

Congratulations to Kimberly Swygert, PhD, Director of Research and Development, for being selected as a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The Admissions Committee and the Board of Trustees recently announced their decisions, and Dr. Swygert will be inducted via the College Night ceremony at the Mütter Museum on Friday, November 16. Fellows of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia are selected for their scientific contributions to work that advances the understanding of medicine. Kimberly is thrilled to join this distinguished group that already includes two physicians at the NBME – our president, Dr. Peter Katsufrakis; and our Medical Advisor, Dr. Miguel Paniagua.

Dr. Swygert’s work on performance assessments, examinee timing and pacing, examinee repeater behavior, and score reporting has been presented at conferences and published in journals such as Academic Medicine, Advances in Health Sciences Education, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, and the Journal of Educational Measurement. Her chapter on performance assessments in the content of credentialing examinations appeared in 2015 in the updated Handbook of Test Development. She is the co-editor and co-author of the most recent edition (2017) of best practices in item writing for medical educators, Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences. In addition to her work at NBME, Dr. Swygert has taught graduate courses in biostatistics and psychometrics for Drexel University and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, where she is currently on an external advisory board.