Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Pain Medicine Fellowship Programs

Abstract

Abstract At Penn State University, we have developed an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for our pain fellows. The course is designed to provide a standardized assessment tool for the fellows and is administered twice per academic year. The first case is somewhat more straightforward, where as the second is designed to require a higher level of function. Each case is divided into two sections. The first is the “History and Physical” component for which we use a standardized patient/actor. The second is the “Procedural Skills” component, for which a phantom spine/mannequin is used and an actor, in our case one of the attending physicians, plays the voice of the patient. There is an evaluation form for each component, and a postcourse survey. The cases provide an objective and standardized means of assessing our pain fellows with regards to their ability to acquire a history, perform an appropriate physical exam, develop a differential diagnosis, develop an evaluation plan, develop a treatment plan, and perform an interventional spine injection.

Keywords

• OSCE
• Radiculopathy
• Epidural Steroid Injection
• Fluoroscopy