Objective Structured Clinical Examinations

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) or other Standardized Patient/Participant (SP) exercises are an important methodology for teaching and assessment in health professions education across disciplines and the continuum of training. The first edition of  Objective Structured Clinical Examinations offered a systematic approach for educators to get involved in the process of creating OSCEs and similar SP exercises. The second edition uses the same successful format to make the OSCE process easy and reproducible and adds novel material and innovative best practices for OSCEs in every context.

The first edition of this book was based on the editors’ 20 years of experience producing OSCEs without a clinical skills center — in empty classrooms or walk-in clinics on weekends, working with well-trained SPs and using carefully designed clinical scenarios. In the 10 years since, they have engaged in multidisciplinary and inter-professional collaborations and expanded their approach to designing and implementing successful performance-based assessment, both inside and outside of high-tech simulation centers. 

The original chapters - (1) Introduction; (2) 10-step approach; (3) Remediation; and (4) Unannounced Standardized Patients – have been updated and charts, tables and best practices throughout these chapters are elaborated and expanded on. This second edition also features an updated Foreword by Ronald Harden and Preface by Mack Lipkin, Adina Kalet, and Sandy Zabar, along with eight new chapters in collaboration with other educators and researchers, covering topics such as: analyzing OSCE notes for clinical reasoning; OSCE data, reporting and visualization; scholarship and a research registry; examples of performance-based assessment in practice; virtual OSCEs and telemedicine skills; OSCEs for transitions; OSCEs for teaching; and SP programs.

This expanded edition will be useful to both novice and advanced educators and offers an important contribution to the health professions education literature.