Department of Medical Education, E-Da hospital, I-Shou University, No.1, Yida Road, Yanchao Dist, Kaohsiung City 82445, Taiwan.
BMC Med Educ. 2013 Jan 24;13:8. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-13-8.
The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been widely applied as a high-stakes examination for assessing physicians' clinical competency. In 1992, OSCE was first introduced in Taiwan, and the authorities announced that passing the OSCE would be a prerequisite for step-2 medical licensure examination in 2013. This study aimed to investigate the impacts of the announced national OSCE policy on implementation of OSCE at the institutional level. Further, the readiness and the recognition of barriers toward a high-stakes examination were explored.
In 2007 and 2010, the year before and after the announcement of high-stakes OSCE policy in 2008, respectively, questionnaires on the status of OSCE implementation were distributed to all hospitals with active OSCE programs in Taiwan. Information on OSCE facilities, equipment, station length, number of administrations per year, and the recognition of barriers to the success of implementing an OSCE were collected. The missing data were completed by telephone interviews. The OSCE format, administration, and facilities before and after the announcement of the nationwide OSCE policy were compared.
The data were collected from 17 hospitals in 2007 and 21 in 2010. Comparing the OSCE formats between 2007 and 2010, the number of stations increased and the station length decreased. The designated space and the equipment for OSCE were also found to have been improved. As for the awareness of OSCE implementation barriers, the hospital representatives concerned mostly about the availability and quality of standardized patients in 2007, as well as space and facilities in 2010.
The results of this study underscored an overall increase in the number of OSCE hospitals and changes in facilities and formats. While recruitment and training of standardized patients were the major concerns before the official disclosure of the policy, space and facilities became the focus of attention after the announcement. The study results highlighted the influence of government policy on different aspects of OSCE implementation in Taiwanese training institutes that showed high level of support as reflected in the improved hardware and the change in OSCE format to serve the summative purpose.
客观结构化临床考试（OSCE）已被广泛应用于评估医生临床能力的高风险考试。1992 年，OSCE 首次在台湾推出，当局宣布 2013 年通过 OSCE 将成为参加第二阶段医学执照考试的前提条件。本研究旨在调查宣布全国性 OSCE 政策对机构层面 OSCE 实施的影响。此外，还探讨了对高风险考试的准备情况和对障碍的认识。
2007 年和 2010 年，分别在 2008 年宣布高风险 OSCE 政策的前一年和后一年，向台湾所有有积极 OSCE 计划的医院分发了关于 OSCE 实施现状的问卷。收集了 OSCE 设施、设备、站点长度、每年管理次数以及实施 OSCE 成功的障碍识别等信息。通过电话访谈完成了缺失的数据。比较了全国 OSCE 政策公布前后的 OSCE 格式、管理和设施。
2007 年收集了 17 家医院的数据，2010 年收集了 21 家医院的数据。比较 2007 年和 2010 年的 OSCE 格式，站点数量增加，站点长度减少。还发现指定的 OSCE 空间和设备也得到了改善。至于对 OSCE 实施障碍的认识，医院代表在 2007 年主要关注标准化患者的可用性和质量，而在 2010 年则关注空间和设施。
本研究结果强调了参加 OSCE 医院数量的总体增加以及设施和格式的变化。虽然在政策正式公布之前，招聘和培训标准化患者是主要关注点，但在公布之后，空间和设施成为关注焦点。研究结果强调了政府政策对台湾培训机构 OSCE 实施不同方面的影响，这些机构表现出了高水平的支持，体现在硬件的改善和 OSCE 格式的变化，以满足总结性目的。
