Objective Structured Clinical Examination as an assessment method for undergraduate medical students

Abstract

Background: One of the most important objectives for University of Dammam is to send competent graduated physicians into the society, which cannot be accomplished without assessments of the clinical skills of the students. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was recently implemented to improve the quality, reliability, validity, university standards, and international rankings, and to decrease time consumption by the exams.

<p>Evaluation of Multifaceted Assessment of the Fifth-Year Medical Students in Family Medicine Clerkship, Saudi Arabia Experience</p>

“…9 It is increasingly used for the evaluation of students because of its reliability and validity. 10 It is the best method to assess many skills, such as: taking the history, performing the physical examination, interpretation of investigations, communication skills, and management. 11 A study conducted in 2010 at the college of medicine in King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, revealed that 52% of undergraduate medical students perceived that OSCE is a fair method of assessment, and 65% believed that it is a standardized tool for evaluation.…”

Osce: Yet to Find Its Place in Medical Curriculum in India

“…Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is nowadays considered as the standard method of assessment of medical students for both preclinical and clinical courses worldwide and also gaining importance in India. 1 The OSCE was first introduced in 1975 by Haden and Gleeson 2 and since then, it has become a standard method of assessment of both undergraduate and postgraduate students. It was originally described as 'a timed examination in which medical students interact with a series of simulated patients in stations that may involve history-taking, physical examination, counselling or patient management, 2 but now it has broadened its scope and has undergone a lot of modifications.…”