TY - JOUR T1 - The challenges of understanding differential attainment in postgraduate medical education JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 426 LP - 427 DO - 10.3399/bjgp19X705161 VL - 69 IS - 686 AU - Rupal Shah AU - Sanjiv Ahluwalia Y1 - 2019/09/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/69/686/426.abstract N2 - The gap in achievement between different demographic groups undertaking the same assessment is known as differential attainment. Differential attainment exists within and outside medicine and across undergraduate and postgraduate studies.1Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) doctors perform less well than their white peers in undergraduate and postgraduate assessments. The statistics apply across all medical specialties and to all non-white ethnic groups, with the odds of failure of BME medics being up to 2.5 times higher than that of white medics.2 The General Medical Council3 has found that once in general practice and other specialty training, UK-qualified white candidates have an average 75% pass rate in postgraduate exams compared with 62.7% for UK-qualified BME candidates and 42.7% for non-European international medical graduates. Of UK medical graduates, 72% of BME Foundation doctors applying for a specialty training programme are successful on their first attempt, compared to 81% of white doctors.3We propose that performance in undergraduate and postgraduate settings should be seen as a continuum. There is benefit in having longitudinal data to promote our understanding of differential attainment.It is often assumed that differences in performance might relate to language, prior academic performance, socioeconomic status, or examiner bias. Therefore, it is surprising that there is no proof that any of these factors can explain the differences seen in undergraduate medical studies.4 Similarly, there is little empiric evidence that can explain the variance seen in postgraduate exam results between UK-qualified BME and white doctors.Why is it that we are still struggling to understand the … ER -