Summary
We describe the application of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Standardized Patients (SP) for the assessment of basic clinical skills of Junior medical students at Ribeirão Preto Medical School. This OSCE comprised 6 stations lastng 6 min each. Two stations were staffed by Sps for evaluation of history-taking skills. The other stations had real patients with true signs, for assessment of physical examination skills. Performance of the examinees was evaluated by faculty members using detailed checklists. One week later, students answered a questionnaire with items on their perception of the examination. Faculty members were impressed with the quality of the information provided by the exam, which allowed them to confidently discriminate students regarding their performance level. Also, the assessment revealed a number of flaws in the course, which prompted the relevant corrections backed by objective data. Students were fairly comfortable with clinical cases, tasks and contents, but reported serious difficulties with time management and regarded the examination to be remarkably stressful. These factors, which might be associated with broader cultural aspects, should be taken into consideration when running OSCEs for the first time.
Key-Words:
Educational evaluation; Performance evaluation; Objective examination; Clinical Abilities; Standardized Patients; Medical students; Medical education
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