Table 3 A sample from the checklist with the items, explanations and matched assessment standards

Management of the entire procedure: general principles

Is the examination process handled independently from the main body of the related society?

Board examinations should be done in affiliation with the Specialty/Subspeciality Societies. This can be handled by an external professional office or a volunteered group of education committee members. However, the process and the management have to be carried out independently. Society may only give a financial and manpower support. Ideally, the Board Examination should be organized by the (national) entity that is responsible for the issue of the Radiology Certification. Independently from any organization that may have potentially related conflicts of interests. In countries having more than one society, the association that has been recognized by international organizations and/or the association who has higher number of members is recommended to be responsible from the Board examination

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Is the examination organized without any financial profit?

Board examinations should be non-profit organizations. Fee is required to finance the exam outcomes and the professional services

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Is the examination carried out with a team of different people with different qualifications?

An office with dedicated members, IT persons and an examination committee with experts in the field of education, examination and assessment has to be established [27]

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Do you make sure that the management is done professionally?

The main society has the responsibility to make sure that the examinations are done professionally. Executive committee of the related boards should evaluate the procedure and the team continuously [10]

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Do you manage the process through an instruction?

An instruction including the main goals, the details of the Board Exam process, evaluation procedures, role of the people and the outcomes is recommended

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Do you prepare an overall timeframe for each examination?

A timeframe including the schedule of all steps of examination has to be prepared. Dates, responsible persons, deadlines and the places to be used should be taken into consideration [27]

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Is all the process of the examination correctly blinded and anonymized to guarantee fairness and equity?

Anonymization of personal data should be respected during all the process (examination, handling of data, correction and publication of results)

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Are all personal data correctly handled respecting the individuals' rights and accordingly to the current laws?

Management of personal data should be done accordingly to the current laws respecting the individuals' right

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Before exam/preparation of the exam

Establishment of examination committee

Do the exam committee members hold a board certificate?

It is recommended that the exam committee members should have a board certification. Another option is to choose the committee members among medical specialists who have experience in education and assessment. This option is recommended especially If the board examination will be done for the first time [28]

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Are they in good standing with the profession?

The most important criteria in this aspect is the ethical interest of the individual [28, 29]

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Are they currently active in clinical practice?

Examiners who are in active clinical practice assumed to be aware of recent methods and terminology [28, 29]

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Did they received an assessment training?

Certified examiners on assessment will increase the quality of the examination which makes it more reliable and valid [29]

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Do they have good written and verbal communication skills?

Good written and verbal communication skills may deeply affect the examination. It is recommended that the exam committee members should have these capabilities. International examinations have some additional difficulties related with communication. However, it is not easy to decide whether the examiner has good written and verbal communications skills. A convenient solution will be the use of feedbacks collected during the quality assurance process [28, 29]

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