['To determine whether a common peer assessment instrument can assess competencies across internal medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry specialties.', "A common 36 item peer survey assessed psychiatry (n = 101), pediatrics (n = 100), and internal medicine (n = 103) specialists. Cronbach's alpha and generalizability analysis were used to assess reliability and factor analysis to address validity.", "A total of 2,306 (94.8% response rate) surveys were analyzed. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was.98. The generalizabililty coefficient (mean of 7.6 raters) produced an Ep(2) =.83. Four factors emerged with a similar pattern of relative importance for pediatricians and internal medicine specialists whose first factor was patient management. Communication was the first factor for psychiatrists."] Do an examination of the appropriateness of using a common peer assessment instrument to assess physician skills across specialties?