Examining Skills and Abilities During the Pandemic – Psychology Students’ and Examiners’ Perceptions of a Digital OSCE

Abstract

Finding valid and reliable ways to assess complex clinical skills within psychology is a challenge. Recently, there have been some examples of applying Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) in psychology for making such assessments. The aim of this study was to examine students’ and examiners’ perceptions of a digital OSCE in psychology regarding quality and students’ feelings about the OSCE. Participants were 51 students enrolled in the Programme for Master of Science in Clinical Psychology during two semesters and nine examiners assessing each OSCE occasion, at Umeå University, Sweden. Web-based questionnaires were used for data collection. Psychometric analyses indicated that the subscales in the student questionnaire had adequate or close to adequate levels of item and scale reliability. Both students and examiners felt that the digital OSCE was realistic, valid and well-aligned with professional practice. Although students perceived the digital OSCE as stressful, the results showed that they were focused and concentrated and found the OSCE to be a positive learning experience, implying that the stress did not affect performance to any significant extent. Based on the examiners’ experiences, it can be concluded that there are both advantages and disadvantages which need to be considered when planning future digital OSCEs.