How Senior OSCEs Differ from Second-Year OSCEs:
Senior OSCEs differ from Second-year OSCEs in several significant ways.
Senior OSCEs cases integrate history taking skills, physical diagnosis skills, the ability to determine a logical differential diagnosis, the ability to develop a reasonable plan, and the ability to document (write-down) the findings. They also require knowledge or skills related to common core clinical concepts
Senior OSCEs consist of the following types of cases:
Cases that require a student to interview a standardized patient, do a focused physical exam, develop a differential diagnosis and a plan, and document the findings. The format of these cases is similar to cases that of the Clinical Skills Examination (CSE) required for licensing. (These stations are usually 25 minutes long. (2 minutes to read instructions, 14 minutes with the patient, 9 minutes for write-up or feedback). Some of these cases require a write-up that is graded at a later time by trained graders with medical knowledge. Some of these cases may be set up to allow the observer to give some immediate feedback to the student. (See:
What is a Focused History or Exam?)
Cases consisting of several short written clinical vignettes which require short (one sentence or short list) written answers.
Cases that may include a short task with a patient, a mannequin, a laboratory or diagnostic test interpretation, a manual skill, a phone conversation, or a computer simulation. (These stations are usually 12 minutes long)
The Senior OSCEs consist of 9 or 10 total stations that are a mix of the above type of cases.
Content of the Senior OSCEs
Content for the Senior OSCEs may cover any clinical skill that students have been exposed to by the end of the third year of training. The Senior OSCEs draw on materials from the goals and objectives of the third-year Clerkships as well as material encountered previously such as the ICM II Benchmarks, the Pocket Guide for the Physical Examination, ICM I, Professionalism and Ethics benchmarks, and other required clinical courses. In addition, students may be required to demonstrate general skills such as laboratory interpretation, diagnostic test interpretation, clinical reasoning, and the ability to select a safe and reasonable plan.
When are Senior OSCE Results Available?
Students take the Senior OSCEs in July and August at the beginning of the Senior Year. All students must complete the examination before final grading is completed in September. Results are usually made available to students in late September or early October. Remedial testing occurs in mid to late October to enable the remedial results to be available prior to issuance of the MSPE (Dean’s Letter) in early November.
How Will I Receive My Results?
Students and their College Mentors will be notified of the results via e-mail and the Catalyst grade book. Copies of the complete set of student materials will be sent to the mentors of those students who require remediation.
What Happens if I Need to Remediate the Exam?
Successful completion of the Senior OSCE is a graduation requirement at the University of Washington. The majority of students are expected to pass the examination (meet expectations) on the initial examination. However a small percentage of students, (usually less than 15%) will be required to re-take a portion of the examination in order to complete the requirement.
Students who require remedial testing are expected to meet with their College mentor to review their test materials. Then, in October (see specific schedule) remedial testing is done for those students who require it. The type of remedial examination is based on the type of cases that the student had trouble with. If a student received several needs development ratings on cases involving interviewing, examining, or communicating with a standardized patient, then their examination consists of
three additional observed encounters with standardized patients. If a student falls short on the short written clinical vignette portion of the examination, they
receive a study guide in advance of the remedial exam, and are re-tested with similar types of questions.
If a student fails the remedial examination, the case is remanded to the Student Progress Committee for their deliberation and recommendation in the context of the student’s overall medical school performance. Depending on the student’s individual situation, repeated OSCE testing or further tutoring may or may not be a part of the Student Progress Committee’s final recommendation.
What goes into the MSPE if I get a “ND” or have to remediate on the Senior OSCE?
The number of “ND”s or a specific grade is not recorded in the MSPE. The MSPE simply indicates that the required 4th-year OSCE was successfully completed.
In most cases the remedial OSCE will have been completed successfully by the time the MSPE is sent out. In those cases, the MSPE simply states that the required 4th-year OSCE was successfully completed.
In the rare case of the student who fails the remedial OSCE, the MSPE will state: “has not yet completed the required 4th-year OSCE requirement”
Administrative Issues
Who observes and grades the Senior OSCEs?
The senior OSCEs are observed and rated by standardized patients, clinicians, and educators from the UW and the local medical community. All final score standards are set by the OSCE Workgroup.
Who should I ask if I have questions about the Senior OSCEs?
Jennie Struijk (
janim@u.washington.edu) is a good person to direct your initial question to. You will be notified via e-mail if scheduling or other issues are to be directed to another person.
To whom can I give feedback about the Senior OSCEs?
Feedback may be directed to Jennie Struijk M.Ed., Operations Director of the UW OSCE Program, or to David Losh, M.D., Medical Director of the UW OSCE Program.