Assessing the validity of an OSCE developed to assess rare, emergent or complex clinical conditions in endocrinology & metabolism

Designing and implementing an OMMID midwifery professional competence mixed test: A multimethod, multiphasic study

The assessment of professional competence is essential to ensure the achievement of competence standards. The goal of this study is to design and implement a professional competence test model to make the test unified, comprehensive, and fair. This research was a multimethod, multiphasic study. The first qualitative phase of the nominal group technique was conducted to design the test model with specific guidelines. The second phase was a mixed-method parallel field trial conducted on 161 senior midwifery bachelor students in universities of Iran. The test was conducted following the traditional method in the control group and OMMID model in the intervention group. This model consists of three parts: the MCQs (multiple choice questions), OSCE (objective structured clinical examination), and clinically-oriented tests, which included Mini-CEX (mini-clinical evaluation exercise) and DOPS (direct observation of procedural skills). Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews, and the results were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively. The OMMID model and the associated guideline were designed. Qualitative data analysis resulted in six main themes, including organizing, structure, tension due to change, fairness, unification, and outcome. The OMMID model did not increase students' anxiety and stress and did not decrease their satisfaction. The merits of this model include having a centralized guideline, using multiple evaluation methods, comprehensive evaluation of necessary skills, promotion of fairness, and increased student satisfaction.

Comparability of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and Written Tests for Assessing Medical School Students' Competencies: A Scoping Review

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and written tests are commonly used to assess health professional students, but it remains unclear whether the additional human resources and expenses required for OSCEs, both in-person and online, are worthwhile for assessing competencies. This scoping review summarized literature identified by searching MEDLINE and EMBASE comparing 1) OSCEs and written tests and 2) in-person and online OSCEs, for assessing health professional trainees' competencies. For Q1, 21 studies satisfied inclusion criteria. The most examined health profession was medical trainees (19, 90.5%), the comparison was most frequently OSCEs versus multiple-choice questions (MCQs) (18, 85.7%), and 18 (87.5%) examined the same competency domain. Most (77.5%) total score correlation coefficients between testing methods were weak (r < 0.40). For Q2, 13 articles were included. In-person and online OSCEs were most used for medical trainees (9, 69.2%), checklists were the most prevalent evaluation scheme (7, 63.6%), and 14/17 overall score comparisons were not statistically significantly different. Generally low correlations exist between MCQ and OSCE scores, providing insufficient evidence as to whether OSCEs provide sufficient value to be worth their additional cost. Online OSCEs may be a viable alternative to in-person OSCEs for certain competencies where technical challenges can be met.