Assessment of clinical competence using objective structured examination.
Open accessAbstract
To avoid many of the disadvantages of the traditional clinical examination we have introduced the structured clinical examination. In this students rotate round a series of stations in the hospital ward. At one station they are asked to carry out a procedure, such as take a history, undertake one aspect of physical examination, or interpret laboratory investigations in the light of a patient's problem, and at the next station they have to answer questions on the findings at the previous station and their interpretation. As they cannot go back to check on omissions multiple-choice questions have a minimal cueing effect. The students may be observed and scored at some stations by examiners using a check list. In the structured clinical examination the variables and complexity of the examination are more easily controlled, its aims can be more clearly defined, and more of the student's knowledge can be tested. The examination is more objective and a marking strategy can be decided in advance. The examination results in improved feed-back to students and staff.
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OSCE attempts to objectively assess the clinical skills of medical students using representative, simulated clinical scenarios.
“An Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) attempts to objectively assess the clinical skills of medical students using representative, simulated clinical scenarios [Harden et al., 1975, Khan et al., 2013].”
From LLM-Powered Virtual Patient Agents for Interactive Clinical Skills Training with Automated Feedback (2025) · cites this paper as Harden et al., 1975
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- Authors
- Harden, R. M., Stevenson, M., Downie, W. W., & Wilson, G. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Dundee (GB)
- ORCID
- Harden, R M
- Venue
- BMJ
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1975-02-22
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 5955
- Pages
- 447-451
- ISSN
- 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-5833
- OpenAlex
- W2013488675
- Cited by
- 1,687
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 93 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 97 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 100 · 2021: 123 · 2020: 83 · 2019: 57 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 68 · 2016: 68 · 2015: 74 · 2014: 54 · 2013: 74 · 2012: 56
- FWCI
- 3.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
- Locations
- BMJ (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 › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
- Keywords
- OSCE, clinical competence assessment, medical students, structured clinical examination, multiple-choice questions, cueing effects, checklists, feedback to students, medical education
- MeSH terms
- Education, Medical, Undergraduate, Educational Measurement, Medical History Taking, Physical Examination, Physician-Patient Relations, Scotland, Clinical Laboratory Techniques
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