[Setting up Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in ophthalmology]

Abstract

Obective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) are a reproducible and objective way to evaluate medical students and have been used for many years in English-speaking countries, Canada and Switzerland. They evaluate candidates more on the basis of their practical skills, know-how and interpersonal skills than on their theoretical knowledge. From a nationally validated, limited list of typical clinical situations, stations are set up by the teaching team with standardized patients played by actors, designed to test a variety of problem solving, technical, diagnostic, therapeutic, communication, examination, and history taking skills, possibly with simulation tools. Setting up a station, as well as creating an OSCE cycle with several stations through which the candidates rotate, requires significant preparation prior to the examination: creating the station scenario with precise instruction sheets for the candidates, simulated patients and evaluators, multiple stages of proofreading, verifying the required equipment and adapting rating scales. OSCEs seek to evaluate students "objectively," as they are the only variable in this type of examination, in which the scripts, materials and rating scales have been standardized to limit subjectivity. This examination method is a flagship measure of the reform of the second cycle of French medical studies. OSCEs are now part of the testing modalities for the 2021-2022 academic year and will be integrated into the National Dematerialized Examination (NDE) starting in May 2023. They may also be useful in validating the achievements of students and residents in various stages of training, as well as in continuing medical education (CME). We present herein the key elements of these new evaluation tools and their practical applications in the evaluation of students in ophthalmology.

Keywords: ECOS; EDN; National Dematerialized Examination; OSCE; Pédagogie; Reformation of medical studies; Réforme des études médicales; Simulation; Teaching.