The Objective Structured Clinical Exam or OSCE is a clinical skills competency examination given at the end of the 3rd. The exam consists of 3 long and 6 short stations, which students rotate through during a two hour period. The long stations are 18 minutes and short stations are 8 minutes, and also allow 2 minutes between encounters. Stations are designed to test basic knowledge of history taking, physical examination, x-ray, ultrasound and laboratory report interpretation. Students may encounter a simulated or actual patient in each of the stations and are expected to treat each clinical encounter as if it were real.
Performance is graded by faculty members or simulated patients using a checklist.
A package containing the results of the OSCE, along with information regarding the expectations of each station are mailed to students within four weeks of the exam. Students who perform below expected proficiency are required to remediate the station before graduation.