Triple Cs of Objective Structured Clinical/Practical Examination: Concept, Construction & Conduct

The introduction of competency-based education (CBE) and changes in assessment have necessitated introduction of observation based assessment method for practical and clinical assessments. Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a method of examination which offers a structured and standardized approach to assessing clinical competence. OSCE is being used worldwide at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and with the advent of Competency based education, it is one of the major additions in the assessment in India. OSPE fulfils most of the five requirements of an authentic assessment method. An OSCE consists of a number of predetermined stations through which each student rotates. For appropriate content sampling for stations blueprint for clinical/practical exams should be used. Stations may be of three types. Blueprint is a guide for the OSCE organizers about the kind of tasks and the levels of tasks one may wish to test on the stations. The conduct of OSCE requires looking into each meticulous details, taking care of the logistic and final execution. The use of OSCE should be encouraged to add more authenticity to the assessment.