OSCE Assessment for Medical Student Clinical Skills and Performance, Are We Doing It The Right Way?

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is an assessment method that can be used to evaluate different learning domains such as cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. It assesses the competence of students in a structured and systematic format that minimize subjectivity. This article reviews the literature supporting the use of OSCE in accordance with validation, reliability, feasibility, acceptability and educational impact criteria for good assessment. Moreover, it explores the major strengths and weaknesses of using the OSCE as a measurement tool when assessing medical students clinical skills and performance. In addition, it proposes solutions to help overcome the identified weaknesses and barriers.