Evaluating psychiatric clinical clerks with a mini-objective structured clinical examination

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychiatry
• Assessment and Evaluation

Background:

• Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are recognized for reliability in performance-based assessments.
• Psychiatric educators have historically favored oral exams, which often exhibit weaker psychometric properties compared to OSCEs.
• There is a need for reliable and accepted assessment methods in psychiatric training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a 4-station "mini-OSCE" for assessing clinical clerks in psychiatry.
• To determine the reliability and acceptability of the mini-OSCE in a psychiatric setting.
• To explore a cost-effective alternative to traditional OSCEs for psychiatric education.

Main Methods:

• A 4-station "mini-OSCE" was designed and implemented.
• The assessment tool was administered to 42 clinical clerks in psychiatry.
• Data on scores, reliability, and satisfaction were collected.

Main Results:

• The mean examination score was 74% (SD=8.08), with scores ranging from 56% to 86%.
• Interstation reliability was found to be 0.61.
• Both students and faculty reported high levels of satisfaction with the mini-OSCE.

Conclusions:

• The mini-OSCE provides an assessment tool with acceptable reliability for psychiatric clinical clerks.
• This evaluation method demonstrates a high degree of acceptance among students and faculty.
• The mini-OSCE offers the benefits of OSCEs without the typically high associated costs, making it a practical choice for psychiatric education.