The relationship between second-year medical students' OSCE scores and USMLE Step 1 scores

Abstract

The relationship between objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and standardized tests is not well known. We linked second-year medical students' physical diagnosis OSCE scores from 1998, 1999 and 2000 (n = 355) with demographic information, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scores. The correlation coefficient for the total OSCE score with USMLE Step 1 score was 0.41 (p < 0.001). Two of 7 skills areas-diagnosis and identification of abnormality-were significant multivariate correlates of USMLE Step 1 score. OSCE station scores accounted for approximately 22% of the variability in USMLE Step 1 scores. A second-year OSCE in physical diagnosis is correlated with scores on the USMLE Step 1 exam, with skills that foreshadow the clinical clerkships most predictive of USMLE scores. This correlation suggests predictive validity of this OSCE and supports the use of OSCEs early in medical school.

Correlation Between Student Performances on Course Level Integrated Clinical Skills Examinations and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations in a Chiropractic College Program

“…13 Searches of the literature turned up other studies of relationships between OSCEs and scores on other evaluations (Table 4). 7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] In several examples the amounts of correlation appeared similar to the Pearson r values found in our study, while in several others the correlation appeared much lower, and only 1 example was found for which correlation appeared substantially higher than that of our study. 20 Some investigators' insights could be helpful to other investigators.…”

“…In contrast, many of the studies found in the literature search did measure reliability and state correlation coefficients, 1,9,11,12,16,17,28 though others did not; 22,24 some did not even mention the issue of test reliability. 7,18,23 Following each OSCE in this time period, a faculty committee inspected evaluator checklists for inter-examiner discrepancies and made scoring adjustments where obviously needed, but there was no formal analysis of reliability.…”

Debriefing in the intensive care unit: A feedback tool to facilitate bedside teaching*

“…OSCEs with standardized patients have been used for Ͼ2 decades in undergraduate medical education (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) but are being used with some success in graduate medical education as well (12)(13)(14)(15). Students are asked to participate in a simulated patient encounter, and this encounter is either videotaped or observed.…”

Standardized Patient-Narrated Web-Based Learning Modules Improve Students’ Communication Skills on a High-stakes Clinical Skills Examination

“…Although we included several baseline characteristics of the two student groups including multiple clerkship ratings in our regression analyses, some variables may not correlate with clinical skills performance. 30,31 Additionally, we may not have accounted for all differences between groups. It is possible that students who participated in the intervention were more motivated or possessed better baseline communication skills.…”