MedEdPORTAL (Feb 2014)
The 3rd year Radiology Medical Student Clerkship Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
Abstract
Abstract Introduction These objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) cases were developed because we were unhappy with the current state of traditional radiology clerkship multiple-choice exams. The goal was to be able to use a more objective measure for evaluation of students on the radiology rotation. One of the critical educational objectives is for students in the radiology clerkship to become more familiar with radiology reports. As most students will not become radiologists, this experience will allow future ease of incorporating information from radiology reports into their patient's care. These cases have been developed with joint involvement of multiple members of the radiology faculty including the current clerkship coordinator, as well as the vice chair of education in radiology who has over 25 years of experience in medical student and resident education. Methods These nine OSCE cases each involve a short clinical scenario and a radiologic exam with an associated grading sheet. Each OSCE case has five open-ended questions designed to simulate a radiologic report. Each case also has a specific checklist for which points can be assigned to each correct answer. Each case attempts to assess whether students can understand straightforward radiology cases and essentially answer questions analogous to the different sections of the radiology report, including pertinent history, positive and negative findings, differential diagnosis, and recommendations. Results These OSCE cases have been used at the Boston University School of Medicine for research purposes and will now be part of the formal evaluation system Discussion These cases improved medical student evaluation in the radiology clerkship so that we could rely less on multiple-choice exams. These OSCE cases not only allowed us to test basic radiologic knowledge, but allowed us to give more specific formative feedback for students. This is important because the radiology clerkship tends to be more of a combination of didactic lectures and an observership, and students do not get the chance to show us what they know. We have been giving one case every week to students in the clerkship. As noted in many other OSCE write ups, these cases can be adapted to be used at many educational levels.
Keywords
