Associations of Admission Grade Point Average and Postclinical Competency Assessment With American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification Outcomes

Kelly R. Michalski

doi:10.29074/ascls.2026003351

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Table 1.

Frequencies and distribution of categorical variables (N = 70)

Variables	N	%
Sex
Male	22	31.4
Female	48	68.6
BOC result
Fail	23	32.9
Pass	47	67.1
GPA group
Very low (<2.75)	10	14.3
Low (2.75–3.00)	20	28.6
Average (3.01–3.50)	22	31.4
High (3.51–4.00)	18	25.7
MediaLab result
Failing (<80%)	42	60.0
Passing (≥80%)	28	40.0
Graduation year
2020	20	28.6
2021	15	21.4
2022	6	8.6
2023	13	18.6
2024	16	22.9

Abbreviations: BOC, board of certification; GPA, grade point average.

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Table 2.
Descriptive statistics for continuous variables (N = 70)
Variable Minimum Maximum Mean SD Median IQR
Admission GPA 2.43 4.00 3.18 0.42 3.08 0.68
MediaLab score 46 96 76.00 11.18 77.0 16.25
Abbreviations: GPA, grade point average; IQR, interquartile range.
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Table 3.
Comparison of observed BOC pass rate to NAACLS 75% benchmark
BOC Examination Outcome Observed Frequency, % Expected Frequency, % N χ² P Cramer’s V
Pass 67.1 75 47 2.31 .13 .18
Fail 32.9 25 23 – – –
Abbreviations: BOC, board of certification; NAACLS, National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences.

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Table 4.

Associations between academic indicators and BOC examination outcome (N = 70)

Academic Indicator	Category	BOC Examination Result		Total
Academic Indicator	Category	Fail, n (%)	Pass, n (%)	Total
GPA category	Lower GPA	12 (40.0)	18 (60.0)	30
GPA category	Higher GPA	11 (27.5)	29 (72.5)	40
Postclinical competency	Fail (<80%)	15 (35.7)	27 (64.3)	42
Postclinical competency	Pass (≥80%)	8 (28.6)	20 (71.4)	28

Lower GPA encompassed both the very-low and low GPA categories combined, whereas higher GPA encompassed both the average and high GPA categories combined. Abbreviations: BOC, board of certification; GPA, grade point average.