ABSTRACT
A student's medical interview in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) may be assessed slightly differently by simulated patients and by the faculty. In this study, we compared three different scores given by the faculty or simulated patients in the assessment of OSCE medical interviews conducted at our department for 3 years. Scores compared were the total score and the behavior score given by the faculty and the score given by simulated patients. The total score and the behavior score given by the faculty correlated well with the score given by simulated patients. However, for students who received a poor assessment from simulated patients, the three scores were weakly correlated; in particular, the behavior score given by the faculty differed markedly from the score given by simulated patients. These results suggest that simulated patients have a different and important viewpoint on assessment of the medical interview in an OSCE.