An overview of the objective structured clinical examination

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is an examination format with particular emphasis on examining clinical skills. It has been developed for the last 10-15 years in the medical field and, during the past five years, there has been some development in the nursing profession. The use of OSCE in physiotherapy is just beginning. This paper is an overview of this examination format. A description of OSCE is followed by consideration of various aspects, including standardized patients, raters, the validity and reliability of the exam, and the educational impact. The OSCE is credible as a test of clinical competence, but reliability is perhaps lower than would be optimal for a licensure examination. Combining an OSCE with a multiple choice exam may have desirable effects on student learning and have acceptable reliability levels. A survey of the 13 Canadian schools of physiotherapy conducted to ascertain the current level of usage showed only two schools currently using the OSCE in their programs.