Search

Background: There are many issues regarding the use of real patients in objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). In dermatology OSCE stations, standardised patients (SPs) with clinical photographs are often used. Temporary transfer tattoos can potentially simulate skin lesions when applied to an SP. This study aims to appraise the use of temporary malignant melanoma tattoos within an OSCE framework. Method: Within an 11-station OSCE, a temporary malignant melanoma tattoo was developed and applied to SPs in a 'skin lesion' OSCE station. A questionnaire captured the opinions of the candidate, SP and examiners, and the degree of perceived realism of each station was determined. Standard post hoc OSCE analysis determined the psychometric reliability of the stations. Results: The response rates were 95.9 per cent of candidates and 100 per cent of the examiners and SPs. The 'skin lesion' station achieved the highest realism score compared with other stations: 89.0 per cent of candidates felt that the skin lesion appeared realistic; only 28 per cent of candidates had ever seen a melanoma before in training. The psychometric performance of the melanoma station was comparable with, and in many instances better than, other OSCE stations. Discussion: Transfer tattoo technology facilitates a realistic dermatology OSCE station encounter. Temporary tattoos, alongside trained SPs, provide an authentic, standardised and reliable experience, allowing the assessment of integrated dermatology clinical skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are a commonly used method of assessing clinical competency in health care education. They can provide an opportunity to observe candidates interacting with patients. There are many challenges in using real patients in OSCEs, and increasingly standardised patients are being used as a preference. However, by using standardised patients there is a risk of making the encounter artificial and removed from actual clinical practice. Context: Efforts made in terms of cognitive, auditory, visual, tactile, psychological and emotional cues can minimise the differences between a simulated and real clinical scenario. However, a number of factors, including feasibility, cost and usability, need to be considered if such techniques are to be practicable within an OSCE framework. Innovation: This article describes a series of techniques that have been used in our institution to enhance the realism of a standardised patient encounter in an OSCE. Efforts in preparing standardised patient roles, and how they portray these roles, will be considered. A wide variety of equipment can also be used in combination with a patient and the surrounding environment, which can further enhance the authenticity of the simulated scenario. Implications: By enhancing the realism in simulated patient OSCE encounters, there is potential to trigger more authentic conscious responses from candidates and implicit reactions that the candidates themselves may be less aware of. Furthermore, using such techniques may allow faculty members to select scenarios that were previously not thought possible in an OSCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses on Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) for medical students in the U. S. An OSCE is an assessment format in which the students rotate around a circuit of stations usually involving a clinical skills. In setting up an OSCE, determine first on what should be assessed. The clinical tasks chosen for the OSCE should map onto the learning objectives of the course and the candidate's level of learning.

The article focuses on the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) used as an assessment tool in medical school. Topics include different perspectives of mock OSCE organisers such as foundation year (FY) doctors, new educational benefit and skills derived by implementation of the OSCE, and OSCE day which aimed to engage all participants and encourage them for using their participation as a learning tool in order to add value to their continuing professional development.

Background: Sydney Medical School has recently introduced a practise, formative five-station Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for junior medical students, where senior medical students act as simulated patients (SPs). We sought to evaluate students' experiences and perceptions of acting as SPs in the practise OSCE. Methods: The study took place over 3 years from 2010 to 2012, with three cohorts of year-3 students invited to participate as SPs ( n = 172). Student SPs took part in the OSCE, where stage-2 students ( n = 169) were examined, and year-4 students acted as examiners. The student SPs completed a questionnaire regarding their experiences. Results: Over the 3-year period, a total of 43/172 (25%) of all year-3 students took part in the programme. Student questionnaire results indicated a high level of engagement with their SP experience. Students perceived the activity to reinforce knowledge, provide insight into examination technique and develop professional attributes. Conclusions: Acting as SPs was perceived by students to provide a useful and engaging learning experience. It also has the potential to reduce logistical demands and costs on clinical schools with limited resources to run practise examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article points out the research findings on the benefits of sequential objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) testing with individualized remediation as described in an article by G. Pell, R. Fuller, M. Homer, and T. Roberts, which appeared in the 2013 issue of the journal "Medical Education." A comparison of the sequential OSCE testing with the standard OSCE formats is presented. The risks identified with the introduction of the model are also cited.

The author discusses the article "Metacognitions, Worry and Attentional Control in Predicting OSCE performance test anxiety," by P. J. O'Carroll and P. Fisher, which appeared in the 2013 issue of the journal "Medical Education." In their study, O'Carroll and Fisher investigated whether the characteristics of the self-regulatory executive functioning model are evident in students during a formative communication objective structured clinical examination in a cohort of medical students.

Background Single-best answer ( SBA) questions are widely used for assessment in medical schools; however, often clinical staff have neither the time nor the incentive to develop high-quality material for revision purposes. A student-led approach to producing formative SBA questions offers a potential solution. Methods Cardiff University School of Medicine students created a bank of SBA questions through a previously described staged approach, involving student question-writing, peer-review and targeted senior clinician input. We arranged questions into discrete tests and posted these online. Student volunteer performance on these tests from the 2012/13 cohort of final-year medical students was recorded and compared with the performance of these students in medical school finals (knowledge and objective structured clinical examinations, OSCEs). In addition, we compared the performance of students that participated in question-writing groups with the performance of the rest of the cohort on the summative SBA assessment. Results Performance in the end-of-year summative clinical knowledge SBA paper correlated strongly with performance in the formative student-written SBA test ( r = ~0.60, p <0.01). There was no significant correlation between summative OSCE scores and formative student-written SBA test scores. Students who wrote and reviewed questions scored higher than average in the end-of-year summative clinical knowledge SBA paper. Conclusion Student-written SBAs predict performance in end-of-year SBA examinations, and therefore can provide a potentially valuable revision resource. There is potential for student-written questions to be incorporated into summative examinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The ability to carry out a neurological examination and make an appropriate differential diagnosis is one of the mainstays of our final Bachelor of Medicine ( MB) exam; however, with the introduction of objective structured clinical examinations ( OSCEs) it has become impossible to arrange for adequate numbers of suitable real patients to participate in the exam. Context It is vital that newly qualified doctors can perform a basic neurological examination, interpret the physical signs and formulate a differential diagnosis. Innovation Since 2010 we have introduced an objective structured video examination ( OSVE) of a neurological examination of a real patient as part of our final MB OSCE exam. The students view clips of parts of the examination process. They answer questions on the signs that are demonstrated and formulate a differential diagnosis. Implications This type of station is logistically a lot easier to organise than a large number of real patients at different examination sites. The featured patients have clearly demonstrated signs and, as every student sees the same patient, are perfectly standardised. It is highly acceptable to examiners and performed well as an assessment tool. There are, however, certain drawbacks in that we are not examining the student's examination technique or their interaction with the patient. Also, certain signs, in particular the assessment of muscle tone and power, are more difficult for a student to estimate in this situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the need for medical educators to be cautious in using words as of 2015. Topics covered include the relationship between two variables in words like significance and correlation, and a comparison of medical student scores in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations and United States Medical Licensing Examination. It references the article "Medical education and moral segmentation in medical students" by I. Hegazi et al in a 2013 issue of "Medical Education."

Background : Peer-assisted learning (PAL) and mock examinations have been credited as effective teaching tools; however, there is a lack of research into their effectiveness in PACES (practical assessment of clinical examination skills). This study demonstrates an effective model and the benefits of PAL after its implementation in a mock PACES at Imperial College London. Methods : A mock PACES was designed for fifth-year medical students. Examiners were recruited from the final year and from the foundation year doctor (intern) cohort. A Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 5, strongly agree) questionnaire given before and after the exam was used to investigate its effectiveness. Results : A total of 41 pre-mock exam surveys (57% completion rate) and 57 post-mock exam surveys (79% completion rate) were completed. Students felt significantly more confident after the mock PACES (mean 3.54 post-mock exam versus 2.68 pre-mock exam), with 90.64 per cent of students agreeing that this mock PACES was more useful than a lecturebased format, bedside teaching and small group teaching in order to prepare for this exam. Twenty-eight tutor surveys were completed (87.5% completion rate). Tutors agreed that the mock PACES had improved their confidence in their teaching ability (mean 4.07) and enhanced their clinical knowledge (mean 4.18). Discussion : The mock PACES demonstrated benefits to confidence levels and knowledge both for tutees and tutors. The results demonstrate an effective model in examination preparation for PACES . This reinforces the holistic positive attributes gained from the use of PAL and mock examinations, whilst encouraging its use within the undergraduate syllabus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]