The Objective Structured Clinical Examination: A review

Abstract

Teaching and assessment of communication skills have become essential in medical and dental education. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been found to be an appropriate means to assess communication skills within medical education. Studies have demonstrated the importance of a valid assessment of medical students' communication skills. Thus, this systematic review aimed at providing an overview of the entire procedure behind an OSCE, describing its underlying aim, and determining the methodological quality of psychometric studies and the quality of psychometric properties of the identified rating scales, its advantages and disadvantages, and the steps and procedures in modeling and OSCE.