Table 1.

Ratings of knowledge, difficulty, and confidence for eight medical specialties

Specialty/Category	Knowledge		Difficulty		Confidence
	Mean (SE)	P value	Mean (SE)	P value	Mean (SE)	P value
Cardiology	3.5 (0.1)	< 0.001	2.6 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.3 (0.1)	< 0.001
Gastroenterology	3.5 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.2 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.4 (0.1)	< 0.001
Respiratory	3.5 (0.1)	< 0.001	2.9 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.4 (0.1)	< 0.001
Neurology	2.7 (0.1)	n/a	2.3 (0.1)	n/a	2.6 (0.1)	n/a
Rheumatology	3.1 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.0 (0.1)	< 0.001	2.9 (0.1)	< 0.001
Endocrinology	3.4 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.0 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.3 (0.1)	< 0.001
Geriatrics	3.3 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.5 (0.1)	< 0.001	3.5 (0.1)	< 0.001
Nephrology	3.3 (0.1)	< 0.001	2.4 (0.1)	0.141	2.9 (0.1)	< 0.001

Knowledge ratings: 1 - very limited, 2 - limited, 3 - moderate, 4 - good, 5 - very good.

Difficulty ratings: 1 - very difficult, 2 - difficult, 3 - moderate, 4 - easy, 5 - very easy.

Confidence ratings: 1 - very uncertain, 2 - uncertain, 3 - moderately confident, 4 - confident, 5 - very confident. P values from a generalized linear model comparing neurology to other specialties; significance threshold adjusted for multiple comparisons via Bonferroni correction (p < 0.007 denotes significance). n/a - not applicable. SE - standard error.