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Cited by 22Innovations in Medical EducationClinical Reasoning and Diagnostic SkillsOphthalmology and Visual Health Research

Surgery Clerkship Evaluations Are Insufficient for Clinical Skills Appraisal: The Value of a Medical Student Surgical Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Butler, Kathryn L., Hirsh, David A., Petrusa, Emil R., Yeh, D. Dante, Stearns, Dana, Sloane, David E., Linder, Jeffrey A., Basu, Gaurab +2 more·2017·Journal of Surgical Education
DOI 10.1016/j.jsurg.2016.08.018
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Abstract

Objective Optimal methods for medical student assessment in surgery remain elusive. Faculty- and housestaff-written evaluations constitute the chief means of student assessment in medical education. However, numerous studies show that this approach has poor specificity and a high degree of subjectivity. We hypothesized that an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in the surgery clerkship would provide additional data on student performance that would confirm or augment other measures of assessment.Design We retrospectively reviewed data from OSCEs, National Board of Medical Examiners shelf examinations, oral presentations, and written evaluations for 51 third-year Harvard Medical School students rotating in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2014 to 2015. We expressed correlations between numeric variables in Pearson coefficients, stratified differences between rater groups by one-way analysis of variance, and compared percentages with 2-sample t-tests. We examined commentary from both OSCE and clinical written evaluations through textual analysis and summarized these results in percentages.Results OSCE scores and clinical evaluation scores correlated poorly with each other, as well as with shelf examination scores and oral presentation grades. Textual analysis of clinical evaluation comments revealed a heavy emphasis on motivational factors and praise, whereas OSCE written comments focused on cognitive processes, patient management, and methods to improve performance.Conclusions In this single-center study, an OSCE provided clinical skills data that were not captured elsewhere in the surgery clerkship. Textual analysis of faculty evaluations reflected an emphasis on interpersonal skills, rather than appraisal of clinical acumen. These findings suggest complementary roles of faculty evaluations and OSCEs in medical student assessment.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jsurg.2016.08.018

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  • Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) have become a cornerstone of medical education, offering structured and standardized environments to evaluate clinical skills systematically.

    “Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) have become a cornerstone of medical education, offering structured and standardized environments to evaluate clinical skills systematically [79,80,97].”

    From Formative assessment and feedback in medical education: A practical guide: AMEE Guide No. 189 (2026) · cites this paper as [97]

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Authors
Butler, K. L., Hirsh, D. A., Petrusa, E. R., Yeh, D. D., Stearns, D., Sloane, D. E., Linder, J. A., Basu, G., Thompson, L. A., & de Moya, M. A.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Cambridge Health Alliance (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Corresponding author
Butler, Kathryn L.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Surgical Education
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-03
Volume
74
Issue
2
Pages
286-294
ISSN
  • 1878-7452 (ISSN-L)
  • 1931-7204
DOI
10.1016/j.jsurg.2016.08.018
OpenAlex
W2525209836
Cited by
22
References
23
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3
FWCI
3.32
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Journal of surgical education (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Ophthalmology › Ophthalmology and Visual Health Research
Keywords
OSCE, medical student assessment, surgical clerkship, faculty evaluation, rater subjectivity, oral presentations, social skills, surgical training
MeSH terms
Accreditation, Clinical Clerkship, Clinical Competence, Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Educational Measurement, Female, Humans, Male, Massachusetts, Medical History Taking, Physical Examination, Retrospective Studies, Schools, Medical, Students, Medical, General Surgery, Databases, Factual, Young Adult

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