The Use of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination With Postgraduate Residents in Pediatrics

Abstract

IN THE 1990s, the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has become an accepted method for evaluating clinical competence in medicine.^1-4 During an OSCE, candidates rotate through a series of stations that assess a particular domain of clinical competence for brief intervals of 5 to 20 minutes. All candidates are assessed with a standardized checklist, meet the same or an equivalent standardized patient, and are assessed by the same or an equivalent examiner.^1-4 The OSCE has been used to examine preclerkship students, clinical clerks, and, in Canada, all physicians in their second postgraduate training year before licensure.^5,6 In most of these general OSCEs, there are 2 or more pediatric stations in the total examination. But OSCEs have also been used to assess undergraduate students in pediatric clerkships,^7-11 using children as standardized patients.^12-14