The objective structured teaching exercise (OSTE) is a high-fidelity training method for advancing the teaching and interpersonal communication skills of faculty members and preceptors. This paper is a primer for implementation of OSTEs as part of a comprehensive faculty development program. This primer addresses teaching and precepting skills that can be most effectively enhanced and assessed by the OSTE method. Development of case scenarios, recruitment and training of standardized students, OSTE session implementation processes, and OSTE evaluation methods are discussed. The experience of the authors as well as recommendations from a review of the literature and discussions with educators with OSTE experience are included.Keywords: faculty development, standardized student, professional competence
INTRODUCTIONThe objective structured teaching exercise (OSTE) is a high-fidelity training and assessment method for advancing the teaching and interpersonal communication skills of faculty members, preceptors, and residents.1 First introduced in the medical literature in the early 1990s, OSTE engages learners in performance-based teaching activities with a standardized student. The OSTE method not only provides a unique and innovative way to teach, enhance, and evaluate educational skills, but also presents an ideal platform for future scholarship.The body of OSTE literature is primarily descriptive in nature and not as robust as the literature regarding standardized patients in health profession curricula. However, interest in the OSTE technique stems from the postulation that standardized student interactions will provide benefits to teachers similar to those that standardized patient interactions provide to students. In the 1960s, neurologist Dr. Howard Barrows was seeking a better method than traditional clinical observations to assess the clinical skills of his medical residents. He developed the concept and first used standardized patients by tapping into an available pool of actors in Southern California.2 Using cases of actual neurology patients, Barrows trained the actors to present the same signs, symptoms, history, emotional state, and, in some cases, physical examination findings to learners. Using the standardized patient, he could then educate, observe, and assess each learner in a safe and controlled environment. Standardized patients are now used extensively throughout health professional education and the technique has been adapted for use with individuals portraying students for faculty development. Standardized student encounters can be used for instruction and practice of skills, performance evaluation, program assessment, and research. These encounters allow for repeated experiences in which the learner can attend to the critical aspects of a situation and improve performance in response to feedback. The learner is an active participant in the experience rather than a passive observer. Standardized student encounters enable expert educators to observe and improve the interaction of the participa...