Validation of a computer based objective structured clinical examination in the assessment of undergraduate dermatology courses.

ABSTRACT

Many teaching centers have now adopted objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as an assessment method for undergraduate dermatology courses. A modifi cation of the standard OSCE in dermatology is computer based or electronic OSCE (eOSCE). We attempted to validate the use of a computer-based OSCE in dermatology in a group of fi fth year medical students. The scores of the students in the computer-based OSCE showed a strong positive correlation with the scores on the clinical presentation (Pearson’s co-effi cient - 0.923, P value <0.000, signifi cant at the 0.01 level) and a good correlation with overall scores of the student (Pearson’s co-effi cient - 0.728, P value <0.000, signifi cant at the 0.01 level), indicating that this is a reliable method for assessment in dermatology. Generally, the students’ feedback regarding the methods was positive.