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What do Psychiatry Residents Think of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination?

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Abstract

Although interest is increasing in the use of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) for the assessment of psychiatry residents, there are very few reports of the experiences and attitudes of residents to this form of evaluation. Eighteen residents in psychiatry participated in an OSCE consisting of eight 12-minute standardized patient interviews. Of the 15 who completed a postexamination survey, 93% rated the scenarios as very realistic and 80% considered the scenarios reflective of clinical situations they had experienced. The residents were very confident that such an examination could discriminate between incompetent and competent medical students, but the residents were less certain of the OSCE’s power to do so between competent and incompetent residents. While residents rejected the idea of such an OSCE for board certification, many felt they would like the experience to be a formative part of their training.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and the Centre for Research in Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Brian Hodges M.D., M.Ed., FRCPC (Assistant Professor and Vice-Chair (Education),  Mark Hanson M.D., M.Ed., FRCPC (Assistant Professor and Director of Child Psychiatry Education),  Nancy McNaughton B.A. (Research Assistant and Associate Director of the Standardized Patient Program) &  Glenn Regehr Ph.D. (Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Brian Hodges M.D., M.Ed., FRCPC
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  2. Mark Hanson M.D., M.Ed., FRCPC
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  3. Nancy McNaughton B.A.
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  4. Glenn Regehr Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Hodges M.D., M.Ed., FRCPC.

Additional information

This study was supported by a peer-reviewed grant from the Medical Council of Canada Research and Development Fund.

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Hodges, B., Hanson, M., McNaughton, N. et al. What do Psychiatry Residents Think of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination?. Acad Psychiatry 23, 198–204 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340055

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340055

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