OBJECTIVES

We introduced the OSCE (objective structured clinical examination) as a method of assessment in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The OSCE is a clinical competency test and a very good example of a practical performance (shows how) assessment instead of a theoretical written measurement (knows and knows how). The OSCE at this Department was designed to assess some of the skills that are supposedly gained during a PBL curriculum (skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and hypothesis formation). The aim of this study was to find where the strengths and weaknesses of learning contents are during the CMF practical course and how we may raise the students' clinical competence. Furthermore we wanted to examine the possibility of achieving an OSCE with ten stations for a single department.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Students rotated through ten test stations of 5 min duration, separated by a 1 min changeover break. At each station the students' performance was observed and assessed by an examiner using a standardized multi-item checklist. All students of the eighth semester (n = 26) of the "Carolinum Dental Institute" at the University of Frankfurt were evaluated in summer 2009 in a ten station circuit of different topics, including trauma, practical knowledge and oncology. Following this all the students and examiners evaluated the OSCE.

RESULTS

The overall average score was 63.2% (SD ± 8.89%). Subdivided the average results were; trauma (58.7 ± 6.79%), practical knowledge (66.1 ± 7.29%) and oncology (50 ± 4.81%). The overall rating of the OSCE was 1.69 (SD ± 0.78) for the students and 1.00 (SD ± 0) for the examiners.

CONCLUSION

With good preparation, it is possible to run a ten station-OSCE circuit with ten examiners in one afternoon without interrupting patient care. The degree of difficulty was mainly acceptable. The overall average score for students' was within a range of 40-80%, which is similar to the international literature. The questionnaires showed that students and examiners viewed the new OSCE very positively.