Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

The 48th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology

Advanced OSCE in neurology

Fumihito Yoshii, M.D.

Department of Neurology, Tokai University School of Medicine

Advanced OSCE evaluates (1) the ability to elicit a relevant history based on the clinical complaints, (2) the application and successful completion of appropriate physical examination maneuvers, given the chief complaint, and (3) the knowledge and ability to provide appropriate tests and treatments with respect to the diagnosis. It is now widely employed as a test after clinical clerkship rotations. Students perform clinical tasks in a series of clinical test stations while interacting with a trained lay-person, called a standardized patient (SP). Time for one station is 15-25 minutes. Evaluations are usually performed by two physician examiners and the SP, who score students' performance according to checklists developed by OSCE Test Committees.
Because of the advantages of this tool, advanced OSCE will be adopted not only in undergraduate, but also in postgraduate medical settings in the future. For the successful spread of advanced OSCE in the field of neurology, it will be important to (1) develop high-quality scenarios, (2) teach students how to make precise neurological examinations, (3) demonstrate the reliability and reproducibility of OSCE scores amongst different observers, (4) organize workshops for faculty development, and (5) establish facilities for training students and SPs.

(CLINICA NEUROL, 47: 897|899, 2007)
key words: advanced OSCE, clinical clerkship, clinical competence, standardized patient, neurology

(Received: 16-May-07)