Use of Eye-Tracking Technology by Medical Students Taking the Objective Structured Clinical Examination: Descriptive Study

BACKGROUND: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is a test used throughout Spain to evaluate the clinical competencies, decision making, problem solving, and other skills of sixth-year medical students. OBJECTIVE: The main goal of this study is to explore the possible applications and utility of portable eye-tracking systems in the setting of the OSCE, particularly questions associated with attention and engagement. METHODS: We used a portable Tobii Glasses 2 eye tracker, which allows real-time monitoring of where the students were looking and records the voice and ambient sounds. We then performed a qualitative and a quantitative analysis of the fields of vision and gaze points attracting attention as well as the visual itinerary. RESULTS: Eye-tracking technology was used in the OSCE with no major issues. This portable system was of the greatest value in the patient simulators and mannequin stations, where interaction with the simulated patient or areas of interest in the mannequin can be quantified. This technology proved useful to better identify the areas of interest in the medical images provided. CONCLUSIONS: Portable eye trackers offer the opportunity to improve the objective evaluation of candidates and the self-evaluation of the stations used as well as medical simulations by examiners. We suggest that this technology has enough resolution to identify where a student is looking at and could be useful for developing new approaches for evaluating specific aspects of clinical competencies.