Observed Structured Teaching Experiences (OSTEs) in a Students as Teachers Course

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Teaching competency is crucial in graduate medical education (GME).
• Observed Structured Teaching Experiences (OSTEs) assess teaching skills in residents.
• Limited literature exists on assessing medical students' teaching skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an OSTE for medical students.
• To provide formative feedback on medical students' teaching skills.
• To address the gap in assessing teaching skills early in medical education.

Main Methods:

• An OSTE was conducted for fourth-year medical students (M4s).
• M4s observed first-year medical students (M1s) with standardized patients.
• Teaching was assessed using the modified Stanford Faculty Development Program (SFDP) questionnaire, and self-efficacy surveys were administered.

Main Results:

• All 30 M4s completed the OSTE, which identified teaching strengths and areas for growth.
• Significant differences were found in SFDP scores among physician assessors, M1s, and M4s (p<0.001).
• M4s showed a statistically significant increase in self-efficacy scores post-OSTE (p<0.001), with high acceptability.

Conclusions:

• An OSTE was successfully implemented and found acceptable for medical students.
• The OSTE demonstrated improved teaching self-efficacy in M4s.
• Further research should validate the OSTE for assessing medical student teaching skills and its long-term impact.