The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Periodontology with Simulated Patient: The Most Realistic Approach to Clinical Practice in Dentistry

Abstract

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is becoming an increasingly established assessment test in dental schools. The use of simulated patients in the OSCE makes the stations more similar to clinical practice. Therefore, the student can show their technical and clinical knowledge, and certainly, their ability to manage the patient. These sorts of tests, in which simulated patients can be included, would be used before the student started clinical practice with patients and/or at the end of the degree. The objective of this work was to describe how the periodontology station was developed using a simulated patient for students of a fifth year dentistry degree taking an OSCE test. Furthermore, a questionnaire was created to learn the perception of the students about this station and its characteristics. The fifth year students at the European University of Madrid positively evaluated this station in their examination. In addition, it was recorded that they preferred a simulated patient in their tests, rather than stations with clinical cases, images, X-rays, and presentations. It is essential that once the OSCE has been completed, the student receives a feedback to learn where they have failed and, therefore, be able to improve any of the aspects evaluated in the station.

The use of objective structured clinical examination in dental education- a narrative review

“…Simulated patients must behave consistently with all students, including the emotions they express during the test, in order to provide a fair and objective assessment of students' skills. Actors must be prepared and trained in order to standardize their involvement, which is critical for evaluating not only the student's examination skills but also their interpersonal skills (9,10).…”

“…The administration of OSCE adheres to fundamental principles and allows flexibility in its implementation based on targeted learning outcomes and tested competencies. The design of OSCE levels, the selection of standard cases or situations, and the assessment criteria can be tailored to emphasize specialized clinical skills or competencies related to one or more learning domains (10). The review of the literature showed that OSCE exams are regarded as an effective tool for assessing clinical competence in different dental specialties, such as restorative dentistry, prosthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, oral surgery, oral medicine, oral radiology, orthodontics, and pediatric dentistry (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15).…”

“…Students were graded on communication skills, diagnostic judgment, treatment strategies, preventive measures, and ethical considerations. They were carefully evaluated for their performance on a 47-point scale checklist, with students needing at least 50% of the total marks to pass this challenging level with a comprehensive test of their ability to manage the patient and the case (10).…”