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Objective: This study was aimed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of OSCE as an assessment method with an initial exploration of faculty perception on traditional clinical examination (TCE) followed by comparing the feedback on OSCE and TCE among Post Graduate Nursing students. Methods: Needs assessment was conducted to gather necessary evidence before we incorporated OSCE. After ethics approval, as a first step, extensive focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted among 38 faculty members on the existing system of case-based clinical examination. We also identified a group of 30 post graduates who had underwent an OSCE session as part of their academic requirements. A modified, validated version of Examination Feedback Questionnaire was utilized, which is a 22 item five point likert scale with questions in three sections namely, Overall exam evaluation (10 items), Quality of performance testing (8 items) and Validity- reliability (4 items). Students were asked to rate their feedback on TCE and OSCE using the same questionnaire. Results: Faculty members had real concerns on the way the TCEs were conducted. The main themes emerged are ambiguous task assignment, non-standardized patients, task overload, examiner burden and time constraints. The students’ overall feedback scores on OSCE were better when compared to TCE (p <0.001) with higher scores on all three sections of the tool. Conclusion: OSCE is a preferred and feasible method of assessment in the selected set-up, inclusive of advanced learners. It is also inferred that strong and evocative research evidence makes the implementation of an innovative curricular change enduring and meaningful.
Elavally et al. (Wed,) studied this question.