Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions

Technical report

Item difficulty index, discrimination index, and reliability of the 26 health professions licensing examinations in 2022, Korea: a psychometric study: Yoon Hee Kim, Bo Hyun Kim, Joonki Kim, Bokyoung Jung, Sangyoung Bae; J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2023;20:31. Published online November 22, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2023.20.31

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Abstract PDF Supplementary Material: Purpose
This study presents item analysis results of the 26 health personnel licensing examinations managed by the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute (KHPLEI) in 2022.
Methods
The item difficulty index, item discrimination index, and reliability were calculated. The item discrimination index was calculated using a discrimination index based on the upper and lower 27% rule and the item-total correlation.
Results
Out of 468,352 total examinees, 418,887 (89.4%) passed. The pass rates ranged from 27.3% for health educators level 1 to 97.1% for oriental medical doctors. Most examinations had a high average difficulty index, albeit to varying degrees, ranging from 61.3% for prosthetists and orthotists to 83.9% for care workers. The average discrimination index based on the upper and lower 27% rule ranged from 0.17 for oriental medical doctors to 0.38 for radiological technologists. The average item-total correlation ranged from 0.20 for oriental medical doctors to 0.38 for radiological technologists. The Cronbach α, as a measure of reliability, ranged from 0.872 for health educators-level 3 to 0.978 for medical technologists. The correlation coefficient between the average difficulty index and average discrimination index was -0.2452 (P=0.1557), that between the average difficulty index and the average item-total correlation was 0.3502 (P=0.0392), and that between the average discrimination index and the average item-total correlation was 0.7944 (P<0.0001).
Conclusion
This technical report presents the item analysis results and reliability of the recent examinations by the KHPLEI, demonstrating an acceptable range of difficulty index and discrimination index values, as well as good reliability.

Technical Report

North Korean defectors seeking health certification to take the national medical licensing examination in the Republic of Korea: figures and procedures: Yoon Hee Kim; J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2012;9:12. Published online December 1, 2012; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2012.9.12

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In May 2011, the Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea (Korea) announced that 21,165 defectors from Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) had settled in Korea. Since healthcare workers are counted among these defectors, it is necessary to provide them with a pathway to certification to work in Korea. This report summarizes the vetting and approval process defectors from North Korea must pass through to be eligible to take the national medical licensing examination. Defectors must pass an oral test conducted by the National Health Personnel Licensing Examination Board to be eligible to sit for the exam. From 2002 to August 2011, 41 North Korean defectors applied for the approval process to take the exam. Twenty-nine were approved (70.7%): 23 physicians, 1 dentist, 2 oriental medical doctor, 1 nurse, and 2 pharmacists. Out of 29 approved, 11 passed the licensing examination (39.3%). This report also highlights the difficulty in assessing North Korean defectors' eligibility by oral test, and suggests that adequate competency should be emphasized to recognize their unique abilities as healthcare personnel.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Challenges Experienced By North Korean Refugee Doctors in Acquiring a Medical License in South Korea: A Qualitative Analysis
Shin Ha, Hui Ran Choi, Jong Koo Lee, Yo Han Lee
Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions.2019; 39(2): 112. CrossRef
Exploration of examinees’ traits that affect the score of Korean Medical Licensing Examination
Mi Kyoung Yim
Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2015; 12: 5. CrossRef
Plan on establishment of post-unification North Korean medical safety net
Young-Jeon Shin
Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2013; 56(5): 394. CrossRef
Can a medical regulatory system be implemented in Korea?
Sun Huh, Myung-Hyun Chung
Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2013; 56(3): 158. CrossRef
The integration process of North Korean defector physicians into the South Korean medical system
Jae-Phil Choi
Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2013; 56(5): 383. CrossRef

Original Article

Construct Validity of the Korean Dental Licensing Examination using Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Mi Kyoung Yim, Yoon Hee Kim; J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2005;2(1):75-86. Published online June 30, 2005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2005.2.1.75

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Abstract PDF: Confirmatory factor analysis based on a measurement model of a structural equation model was used to test the construct validity of 13 subjects in the Korean Dental Licensing Examination (KDLE). The results of 1,086 examinees who wrote the KDLE in 2004 were analyzed. The thirteen subjects were classified into 62 major categories and 122 intermediate categories. There were 364 items. A hierarchical model was constructed, including major and intermediate categories. The impact of the variables was determined by the standardized regression coefficient that related latent and measured variables in the measurement model. The KDLE showed a high goodness-of-fit with a root mean square error of approximation of 0.030 and a non-normed fit index of 0.998. When the latent variables for the major and intermediate categories were analyzed, the standardized regression coefficients of all of the subjects, with the exception of Health and Medical Legislation, were significant. From the result, we concluded that the 13 subjects showed constructive validity. In addition, the study model and data were very compatible. The subject Health and Medical Legislation had a low explanatory impact with respect to testing the ability of dentists to perform their jobs. This study suggests that similar psychometric studies are needed before integrating or deleting subjects on the KDLE, and to improve item development.

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