Feasilbility of group objective structured clinical examination

ABSTRACT

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination [OSCE] is a valid, reliable and practical method of assessment. It consists of multiple-timed stations where each student is presented with the same situation and evaluated using a checklist of predetermined detailed evaluation criteria. The OSCE setting presents each examinee with an identical controlled, stimulated situation in which only particular skills are evaluated. Because of the use of multiple individual stations, OSCE becomes a very labour intensive function requiring extensive time from the faculty in designing and running it. The solution could be running OSCE in a 'group' fashion [G-OSCE]. To look at the feasibility of this concept, this study was carried out and conducted at Hamdard University Hospital, Karachi. Third year students rotating through the Paediatric ward as part of their clerkship volunteered for the trial of group OSCE. The slides were used to represent OSCE stations which comprised topics of applied anatomy and physiology. The slides were projected serially on the screen each for a period of five minutes. The student group had to complement the OSCE answer sheets with answers to modified essay questions pertaining to the slide number at the same time. A total of thirty-five students participated in the study. Most of the students were able to answer the questions. The whole process took thirty minutes. This, when compared to the same OSCEs run in standardized manner would have taken 175 minutes [35 students, five minutes each]. In conclusion, we have indicated the feasibility of 'group' OSCE among the third year students. With the increasing role of OSCE in teaching and evaluation, we recommend more of its use in a group form. This will save time of the faculty and is less labour intensive