The Impact of Using an Online Question Bank on First Time Board Pass Rates in a Professional Healthcare Program

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of providing access to a commercially available electronic question bank on first-time Physical Therapy (PT) Board pass rates. Subjects included 288 students for the classes of 2020-2023, including 158 students in a face-to-face program and 130 students in a hybrid program. A commercially available question bank was used. Students were given access to the database during the winter semester prior to their graduation in May and the July board exam. The data-driven platform provided access to over 2,000 board style practice questions written by content experts. Students had access to the database from January through the July board examination. Choices when generating quizzes/ tests included choice of body systems, number of questions, and time allotted. Student review of the results included detailed explanation of correct and incorrect answer choices, and metrics benchmarked against national averages. Data analysis looked at the results of the first-time board results compared to question bank usage, including number of quizzes generated, number of questions taken, and time spent within the platform. Students generated an average of 33 quizzes and completed an average of 1,025 questions. First-time board scores and overall performance were found to be moderately positively correlated, r(286)=.36, p The use of a commercially available question bank had a positive impact on the first-time pass rates on the PT Board Examination.