From the Guidelines
To effectively prepare for your OSCE, focus on practicing clinical scenarios with a study partner, creating a study schedule, and reviewing common clinical presentations and their management protocols, as these skills are essential for success in the examination, as noted in the 2023 international consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendations 1. To prepare for your OSCE, consider the following key points:
- Practice clinical scenarios with a study partner to improve your history taking, physical examination, communication, and procedural skills.
- Create a study schedule that covers common OSCE stations, including history taking, physical examination, communication skills, procedural skills, and clinical reasoning.
- Review common clinical presentations and their management protocols, including medication names, dosages, and treatment durations for conditions likely to appear in your exam, such as those outlined in the task force on pediatric cardiology fellowship training in general cardiology 1.
- Focus on developing your patient care and procedural skills, including obtaining a detailed history, performing physical examinations, and interpreting ECGs, as emphasized in the task force on pediatric cardiology fellowship training in general cardiology 1.
- Time management is crucial during OSCEs, so practice completing tasks within the allocated time frame, typically 5-10 minutes per station.
- The day before your OSCE, gather necessary equipment like a stethoscope, penlight, and reflex hammer.
- During the actual examination, take a moment to read instructions carefully before entering each station, introduce yourself to the patient, and maintain a structured approach throughout, as these skills are essential for success in the examination, as noted in the 2023 international consensus on cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science with treatment recommendations 1. Some key skills to focus on include:
- Obtaining a detailed history regarding the nature of episodes, triggers, postural change, frequency, duration, recovery, pre-syncopal events, and fluid intake.
- Performing physical examinations, including measuring vital signs during orthostatic maneuvers.
- Interpreting ECGs with emphasis on findings supporting a cardiac etiology, including a long QT interval or conduction abnormalities.
- Assembling a differential diagnosis based on history and physical examination to consider cardiac, neurological, or neural-mediated etiology.
- Ordering further cardiac testing as appropriate, including Holter/event monitoring, exercise testing, echocardiography, tilt table testing, and MRI, as outlined in the task force on pediatric cardiology fellowship training in general cardiology 1.
From the Research
OSCE Preparation
To prepare for an OSCE, it's essential to focus on the core competencies that are being assessed, including:
- Reviewing history
- Performing physical examinations
- Communication skills
- Clinical reasoning 2
Tips for Success
Studies have provided tips and pointers for medical students and residents to help them prepare for OSCEs, including:
- Understanding the format and content of the OSCE
- Practicing with standardized patients
- Focusing on "webside manner" in virtual OSCEs
- Learning about the psychometrics and tasks involved in the OSCE 2, 3
Effective Use of OSCEs
Research has shown that OSCEs can be an effective method of instruction and evaluation, providing formative and summative feedback to learners 3, 4
- OSCEs can be used to assess knowledge, skills, and behaviors
- They can be designed to be cost-effective and feasible to implement
- Student feedback on OSCEs has been overwhelmingly positive, with improvements in perceived competence and confidence 4
Considerations for Implementation
When implementing OSCEs, it's crucial to consider factors such as:
- Test content and design
- Implementation factors, especially for high-stakes decision making
- The potential benefits and drawbacks of using OSCEs, including their validity and reliability 5, 6
- Following best practices for developing an OSCE, guided by a modern understanding of validity, to ensure that the OSCE is assessing what it purports to measure 6