Use Of Objective Structured Clinical Examination Research Articles

Implementation of a Mental Health Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Using Standards of Best Practice.

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is effective for the evaluation of clinical competence. Studies examining the use of OSCEs in undergraduate mental health nursing education in the United States are limited. A pilot study and a follow-up study were conducted to establish the reliability and validity of a mental health OSCE to evaluate the clinical competence of prelicensure nursing students. International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning Standards of Best Practice were used to guide the design and implementation. Results from both studies provide evidence for the use of OSCE in undergraduate mental health nursing education.

What do we know about Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Sport and Exercise Medicine? A scoping review.

Despite the importance of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Sport and Exercise Medicine, the literature on the topic is fragmented and has been poorly developed. The goal of this review was to map current knowledge about how the OSCE is used in Sport and Exercise Medicine, and to identify knowledge gaps for future research. The authors conducted a scoping review. They searched PubMed and Scopus for articles using key terms related to 'OSCE' and 'sport medicine' with no limit on search start date and up to July 2022. Retrieved records were imported, abstracts were screened, and full-text articles were reviewed. A forward and backward citation tracking was conducted. Data was extracted and a qualitative meta-summary of the studies was conducted. A total of 469 records were screened, and 22 studies were included. The objectives of the studies included using OSCEs to assess knowledge/skills after a training program (n = 11), to assess an intervention (n = 8), and to assess and improve the OSCE itself (n = 3). Thirteen studies reported validity and/or reliability of the OSCE. Despite the widespread use of OSCEs in the examination of Sport and Exercise Medicine trainees, only a handful of scholarly works have been published. More research is needed to support the use of OSCE in Sport and Exercise Medicine for its initial purpose. We highlight avenues for future research such as assessing the need for a deeper exploration of the relationship between candidate characteristics and OSCE scores.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) for High-Stakes Assessment of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologists (CRNAs)

BackgroundCertified registered nurse anesthesiologists (CRNAs) undergoing high stakes assessment must demonstrate competency. Written competency is the current method of high-stakes assessment, and this paper uses Miller's Pyramid of competency to explore use of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for high-stakes assessment. MethodsThe modified Delphi method was used with 10 experts to design and execute an anaphylaxis OSCE simulation scenario of 3 proficiency levels. OSCE performance assessment tools included a checklist and global rating scale (O-GRS). A system usability survey was used to assess OSCE utility. ResultsThe overall system usability survey score was below our goal of 75. Assessment tool results did not demonstrate high correlation among panelists, although mean scores for each performance showed statistically significant differences in scores (p < .001). ConclusionOur paper showed the process of OSCE design, execution, and utility. Although results did not allow us to strongly recommend use of OSCEs for high-stakes assessment of CRNAs, we are encouraged that our results will provide direction for future papers related to this topic.

Formative Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) as an Assessment Tool in UK Undergraduate Medical Education: A Review of Its Utility.

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a globally established clinical examination; it is often considered the gold standard in evaluating clinical competence within medicine and other healthcare professionals' educations alike. The OSCE consists of a circuit of multiple stations testing a multitude of clinical competencies expected of undergraduate students at certain levels throughout training. Despite its widespread use, the evidence regarding formative renditions of the examination in medical training is highly variable; thus, its suitability as an assessment has been challenged for various reasons. Classically, Van Der Vleuten's formula of utility has been adopted in the appraisal of assessment methods as means of testing, including the OSCE. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature surrounding the formative use of OSCEs in undergraduate medical training, whilst specifically focusing on the constituents of the equation and means of mitigating factors that compromise its objectivity.

Outcome Evaluation of a Transnational Postgraduate Capacity-Building Program Using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination.

Previous studies have applied interview-oriented self-reported or peer-centered evaluation methods, rather than an objective and quantitative method, to evaluate outcome of a postgraduate capacity-building program and have mainly focused on the cognitive level. To investigate the feasibility of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in an international setting and report the results of the outcome evaluation for the behavioral aspect. A case-control study. Ninety examinees divided into 2 case-control groups: 17 program-experienced doctors and 17 control doctors in the first group, and 28 mentees of the program-experienced doctors and 28 control doctors in the second group. A six-station OSCE was implemented. The OSCE scores were measured to evaluate (1) the direct educational effect regarding learning in the first group and (2) the indirect educational effects regarding transfer in the second group. Written questionnaire and interview data were collected for qualitative analysis. The quantitative results of the overall or subcomponent OSCE scores indicated no significant differences in the comparisons of the first and second case-control groups. The qualitative data indicated that the program improved participants' medical knowledge, skills, and self-confidence, however, it also revealed limited learning environment provided by the program. This transnational study has demonstrated the process for introducing and successfully completing the testing of an OSCE in Laos. Discrepancy in the goals of the OSCE and the education program limited the usefulness of OSCE as an assessment tool, leading to the lack of significant differences in its results.

Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) for students’ training and assessment in the French respiratory medicine departments in 2021: An overview

BackgroundMedical professional performances can be assessed by objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) where medical trainees go through a series of simulated clinical situations. OSCEs are now the gold standard for the assessment of medical students’ competence during their training. In France, the first national OSCEs will take place in May 2024 and respiratory teachers will be involved in this reform and will use OSCEs for students’ training and assessment in respiratory medicine. Students training regarding this final OSCE may vary across medical faculties and may impact students' results. Therefore, we aimed to provide a national overview of OSCE's training performed by respiratory teachers and their interest in developing a common French databank of OSCEs. MethodsWe conducted a national anonymous online survey among the members of the French college of respiratory teachers (CEP), from 2021 February the 15th to 2021 June the 15th. The survey consisted of 32 questions. ResultsAmong 118 French pulmonologists teachers, 52 (45%) responded to the survey. We received a response from at least one of each of the French Medical Universities. Twenty-two (42%) had received specific training on how to conduct an OSCE. Twenty-eight (54%) of respondents used OSCEs for training purposes and 24 (46%) for assessment purposes, for less than 1 year in more than half of the participants. The average satisfaction scores out of 10 about OSCEs was 7.3 ± 1.7 for training and 7.4 ± 1.5 for students’ assessment. Respondents were willing (8.9 ± 1.8 out of ten) to develop a common databank to share OSCEs subjects in respiratory medicine in France. ConclusionsThis survey confirms heterogeneity in the training and the use of OSCEs among French respiratory teachers. However, a common national databank could be a useful tool to reduce these disparities.

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) on Antenatal Assessment among Nursing students

Background: The assessment of knowledge and skills plays an important part in student nurse’s progression because they need to demonstrate competency and confidence in the performance of clinical skills. OSCE has been recognized as the most reliable method for evaluation of clinical skills among Nursing students. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of OSCE on antenatal assessment among nursing students. Methods: An experimental approach with post-test only design was used to select 60 IV Year BSc Nursing students. They were selected by using a simple random sampling method. 30 were in the experimental group received planned teaching program on antenatal assessment and evaluated by OSCE, 30 were in the control group received traditional method of teaching on antenatal assessment and evaluated by traditional clinical evaluation (TCE). An observational checklist and the opinionnaire on the usefulness of OSCE were used to collect the data. Results: Average marks scored by the students who are evaluated by OSCE (21.96±1.44) were higher as compared to traditional clinical evaluation scoring (14.93±2.75) which was statistically significant (p&lt; 0.001) Most of the students gave positive feedback on OSCE. Conclusion: Learning in the nursing clinical area gives present reality to nursing students to build up the information, abilities, dispositions, and skills. OSCE is an important, reasonable, helpful and acceptable method for assessing student’s clinical performance due to different positive particulars. The study concluded that OSCE was an effective method to evaluate the clinical skills of nursing students on antenatal examination.

How to Design and Apply an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Medical Education?

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is considered a gold standard summative and formative assessment method wherein it is a comprehensive and standardized tool assessing the clinical competencies including psychomotor domain, attitudes, and behaviors that will be manifested in the real work of the medical graduates. Therefore, the implementation of OSCE depends on the design of a blueprint that consists of two axes; the first axis is the tested competencies according to the learning objectives while the second axis represents a system or problem that is related to these competencies. Thus, the blueprint of OSCE is a translation for the learning objectives into clinical competences such as history taking, physical examination, radiographic and laboratory data interpretation, technical skills, attitudinal behaviors, and counseling skills. In addition, the utility index proved that OSCE has a good balance for acceptability, reliability, validity, credibility, feasibility, cost, and educational impact. However, the use of OSCE for the students' assessment is considered expensive and exhausted because it requires many facilities, a great deal of the personnel besides the needed consuming time for its application.

Objective structured clinical examination in physiotherapy teaching: a systematic review

Abstract Introduction: Problems related to the clinical abilities of physiotherapy students are not always identified throughout the educational process and might only be observed when these future professionals have to treat patients. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) includes a problematization approach and can be used in Health Sciences teaching to help this identification before internship practices. However, there are few studies on its use in Physiotherapy. Objective: To gather evidence of the OSCE use to evaluate clinical abilities in Physiotherapy teaching. Method: Articles published from 2000 to 2016 were surveyed in the Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS) (Virtual Health Library), Centro Latino-Americano e do Caribe de Informação em Ciências da Saúde (BIREME) (Latin-American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information Center), PubMed, Scielo and Web of Science, using the descriptors “educational assessment”, “assessment methods”, “objective structured clinical examination”, “clinical competence”, “professional competence”, “clinical skills”, “student competence”, “student skills”, “physiotherapy” and the Booleans “OR” and “AND”. Results: The initial number of identified publications was 3,242. From these, seven were included in this review. Two studies were developed in Brazil, four in Australia and one in Canada. The studies were scored 7 to 12 regarding methodologic quality, and 1B and 2B regarding scientific evidence. Conclusion: Students’ clinical abilities were grouped into three classes: cognitive, psychomotor and affective, and four studies described their use. There is very little evidence of the use of OSCE, but the instrument can be applied to evaluate skills and competences in Physiotherapy teaching.

Assessing engagement skills in public child welfare using OSCE: a pilot study

ABSTRACTA two-station (scenario) Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was developed and tested for validity and reliability for assessing social work engagement skills in public child welfare. The simulated scenario was designed to allow for demonstration of skill with an involuntary adolescent and parent presenting as resistant. Independent raters assessed participants comprised of BSW students, MSW students, and experienced public child protection social workers (n = 17, station one, n = 16 station two). Scales demonstrated high internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, and initial discriminate groups validity. Findings suggest a promising approach for directly assessing social worker skill in engagement of clients. Implications for use of OSCE in child welfare are discussed.

Objective Structured Clinical Examination From Virtually Anywhere!

Abstract The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is used in nurse practitioner (NP) education programs to evaluate students' clinical competency. The OSCE was developed to be done with students on campus in a simulation laboratory, but for online NP programs, an on-campus environment is a barrier to the use of OSCEs. The virtual OSCE eliminates this barrier and provides an effective method of implementing OSCEs and evaluating student competencies in online NP education.

Assessing MSW Students’ Integrated Behavioral Health Skills Using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination

ABSTRACTWithin the last decade, there has been a significant shift in the field of social work toward competency-based education. This article details the use of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Adapted for Social Work Performance Rating Scale. We used the measure to evaluate specific practice competencies among students (n=33) participating in a professional workforce development program, funded by the Health Resources Services Administration Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training for Professionals. We report on students’ performance and their views of the OSCE as an assessment measure and learning experience, and on the interrater reliability and consistency of the OSCE. Results can be used by other social work programs to inform the use of OSCEs to facilitate competency-based assessment.

The Associations Between Clerkship Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Grades and Subsequent Performance

ABSTRACTConstruct: We investigated the extent of the associations between medical students' clinical competency measured by performance in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) during Obstetrics/Gynecology and Family Medicine clerkships and later performance in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. Background: There is a relative dearth of studies on the correlations between undergraduate OSCE scores and future exam performance within either undergraduate or graduate medical education and almost none on linking these simulated encounters to eventual patient care. Of the research studies that do correlate clerkship OSCE scores with future performance, these often have a small sample size and/or include only 1 clerkship. Approach: Students in USU graduating classes of 2007 through 2011 participated in the study. We investigated correlations between clerkship OSCE grades with United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, Clinical Skills, and Step 3 Exams scores as well as Postgraduate Year 1 program director's evaluation scores on Medical Expertise and Professionalism. We also conducted contingency table analysis to examine the associations between poor performance on clerkship OSCEs with failing Step 3 and receiving poor program director ratings. Results: The correlation coefficients were weak between the clerkship OSCE grades and the outcomes. The strongest correlations existed between the clerkship OSCE grades and the Step 2 CS Integrated Clinical Encounter component score, Step 2 Clinical Skills, and Step 3 scores. Contingency table associations between poor performances on both clerkships OSCEs and poor Postgraduate Year 1 Program Director ratings were significant. Conclusions: The results of this study provide additional but limited validity evidence for the use of OSCEs during clinical clerkships given their associations with subsequent performance measures.

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Psychiatry Education: A Review of Its Role in Competency-Based Assessment.

Over the last two decades, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has become an increasingly important part of psychiatry education and assessment in the Australian context. A reappraisal of the evidence base regarding the use of OSCE in psychiatry is therefore timely. This paper reviews the literature regarding the use of OSCE as an assessment tool in both undergraduate and postgraduate psychiatry training settings. Suitable articles were identified using the search terms 'psychiatry AND OSCE' in the ERIC (educational) and PubMed (healthcare) databases and grouped according to their predominant focus: (1) the validity of OSCEs in psychiatry; (2) candidate preparation and other factors impacting on performance; and (3) special topics. The literature suggests that the OSCE has been widely adopted in psychiatry education, as a valid and reliable method of assessing psychiatric competencies that is acceptable to both learners and teachers alike. The limited evidence base regarding its validity for postgraduate psychiatry examinations suggests that more research is needed in this domain. Despite any shortcomings, OSCEs are currently ubiquitous in all areas of undergraduate and postgraduate medicine and proposing a better alternative for competency-based assessment is difficult. A critical question is whether OSCE is sufficient on its own to assess high-level consultancy skills, and aspects of professionalism and ethical practice, that are essential for effective specialist practice, or whether it needs to be supplemented by additional testing modalities.

OSCE vs. TEM: Different approaches to assess clinical skills of nursing students

Introduction:Nurses are trained with specific clinical skills, and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) could be a better approach to assess clinical skills of nursing students.Materials and Methods:A comparative study was conducted by observational checklist regarding antenatal care and opinionnaire on the usefulness of OSCE and tradition evaluation method (TEM) was used to assess the clinical skills and to get opinion.Results:The mean score of OSCE was more than TEM and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The opinion of students regarding the usefulness of OSCE was higher than TEM.Conclusions:The study concluded that implementing OSCE will overweigh the advantages of the TEM.

Introduction of Objective Structured Clinical Examination, an assessment method for undergraduate students in a dental school

Objective: Undergraduate education in a dentistry program aims to produce competent practitioners equipped with appropriate knowledge, behavior, attitudes and skills necessary to blend into independent dental practice. Assessment is crucial in the learning process of the students, and assessment drives learning is universally accepted. A number of traditional assessment methods are in common use; lately, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been suggested to assess the clinical competencies and skills in health sciences. Argyris recommended developing an implementation strategy of advocacy and inquiry to encourage the acceptance of personal responsibility to overcome resistance (to changes being introduced into the existing assessment system). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of implementation strategy by measuring the attitudes of both staff and students towards OSCE in a dental school. Methods: Following sequential steps of providing information, advocacy, participation to minimize resistance towards introduction of OSCE in the course of oral medicine, fourteen staff members and thirty six students participated in pilot/mini OSCE which included one rest and five test stations. Later, a more definitive final OSCE was designed with 10 test plus one rest station. After completion of both pilot/mini and final OSCE, a questionnaire adopted from a previously conducted study was answered by the staff and students. Results: The staff scores were significantly higher following the final OSCE for all the questions except “increase use”. In the student group, “increase use” and “difficulty/ease” improved from pilot to final OSCE, but the difference was statistically insignificant. Comparison between the groups revealed staff were significantly more enthusiastic, believed the use of OSCE to be increased and felt the test was relevant. Conclusion: Involvement, participation and joint control of the staff in designing and developing the OSCE stations and its implementation led to a successful implementation of the new assessment method.

Use of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Clinical Nurse Specialist Education.

Helping patients maximize their potential using expert coaching to facilitate lifestyle change is an important practice area for clinical nurse specialists (CNSs). The purpose is to determine the usefulness of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) for evaluating CNS students' coaching competencies in the context of facilitating lifestyle change. Despite the use of OSCEs to assess competencies in clinical skills (eg, performance of procedures, decision making), its potential for evaluating coaching competencies for lifestyle change has not been demonstrated. We developed 4 OSCEs dealing with coaching patients in exercise, weight loss, stress reduction, or nonpharmacologic management of hyperlipidemia. Evaluation criteria included (1) approach to the patient, (2) information gathering, (3) motivational interviewing, and (4) management (medical and behavioral strategies). Student performance ranged from highly organized with proficient coaching skills to disorganized and focused solely on clinical management and prescriptive communication. Student responses were positive. Objective structured clinical examinations were highly useful for evaluating CNS students' coaching competencies for lifestyle change. Using OSCEs early in the semester to provide students feedback on their performance and again at the end to determine improvement optimizes use of this teaching strategy.

Dental Undergraduate Views of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs): A Literature Review.

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are widely used in dental undergraduate assessment, often determining progression or graduation. Student evaluation of this assessment process is important, and this includes identifying the views of the student. The aim of this paper is to present a review of the current literature regarding dental student perceptions of OSCEs. A search of the PubMed database covering the period 1975 to 2015 identified 121 possible papers from which only six were suitable for review. The remaining papers were excluded due to them not reporting on dental undergraduate views. Students perceived the OSCE to be a valid assessment in three studies, but not in one. The educational benefit of an OSCE is well supported by these studies. OSCEs can induce high levels of anxiety compared to other forms of assessments, but this did not affect student performance. The majority of students would chose to have a similar format of assessment again, showing support for OSCEs. Further research using larger cohorts of students could be undertaken in order to support these finding which would give added evidence for the continuing use of OSCEs as a valid method of both dental undergraduate education and assessment.

Back to the future: An online OSCE Management Information System for nursing OSCEs

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is an established tool in the repertoire of clinical assessment methods in nurse education. The use of OSCEs facilitates the assessment of psychomotor skills as well as knowledge and attitudes. Identified benefits of OSCE assessment include development of students' confidence in their clinical skills and preparation for clinical practice. However, a number of challenges exist with the traditional paper methodology, including documentation errors and inadequate student feedback. To explore electronic OSCE delivery and evaluate the benefits of using an electronic OSCE management system. To explore assessors' perceptions of and attitudes to the computer based package. This study was conducted using electronic software in the management of a four station OSCE assessment with a cohort of first year undergraduate nursing students delivered over two consecutive years (n=203) in one higher education institution in Ireland. A quantitative descriptive survey methodology was used to obtain the views of the assessors on the process and outcome of using the software. OSCE documentation was converted to electronic format. Assessors were trained in the use of the OSCE management software package and laptops were procured to facilitate electronic management of the OSCE assessment. Following the OSCE assessment, assessors were invited to evaluate the experience. Electronic software facilitated the storage and analysis of overall group and individual results thereby offering considerable time savings. Submission of electronic forms was allowed only when fully completed thus removing the potential for missing data. The feedback facility allowed the student to receive timely evaluation on their performance and to benchmark their performance against the class. Assessors' satisfaction with the software was high. Analysis of assessment results can highlight issues around internal consistency being moderate and examiners variability. Regression analysis increases fairness of result calculations.

Perceptions of postgraduate trainees on the impact of objective structured clinical examinations on their study behavior and clinical practice.

BackgroundThe objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a commonly used method of assessing clinical competence at various levels, including at the postgraduate level. How the OSCE impacts on learning in higher education is poorly described. In this study, we evaluated the perceptions of postgraduate trainees regarding the impact of the OSCE on their study and clinical behavior.MethodsWe employed an explorative qualitative research design by conducting focus group discussions with 41 pediatric postgraduate trainees at the College of Health Science, Makerere University. A semi-structured tool was used to obtain the views and experiences of the trainees. Transcripts from the discussion were analyzed in an iterative manner using thematic content analysis.ResultsThe trainees reported the OSCEs as a fair and appropriate tool for assessing clinical competency at the postgraduate level. However, they noted that whereas OSCEs assess a broad range of skills and competencies relevant to their training, there were areas that they did not adequately assess. In particular, OSCEs did not adequately assess in-depth clinical knowledge or detailed history-taking skills. Overall, the majority of the trainees reported that the OSCEs inspired them to study widely and improve their procedural and communication skills.ConclusionOSCEs are a useful tool for assessing clinical competencies in postgraduate education. However, the perceived limitations in their ability to assess complex skills raises concerns about their use as a standalone mode of assessment at the postgraduate level. Future studies should evaluate how use of OSCEs in combination with other assessment tools impacts on learning.