Attitudes Towards Introduction of Multiple Modalities of Simulation in Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) of Emergency Medicine (EM) Final Board Examination: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is the current modality of choice for evaluating practical skills for graduating emergency medicine residents of final Saudi board examination. This study aims to evaluate the attitudes of both residents and faculty towards the idea of utilizing multiple modalities of simulation in a high-stakes emergency medicine (EM) examination. The goal is to propose a method to improve the process of this examination. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The data were obtained using a cross-sectional survey questionnaire that was distributed to 141 participants, including both EM residents and instructors in the Saudi Board of Emergency Medicine. An online survey tool was used. The data were collected and subsequently analyzed to gauge the general and specific attitudes of both residents and instructors. RESULTS: Of the 141 participants, 136 provided complete responses; almost half were residents from all years, and the other half were primarily instructors (registrars, senior registrars, or consultants). Most of the participants from both groups (70% of the residents and 86% of the instructors) would like to see simulation incorporated into the final EM board OSCEs. Most of the participants (78%), however, had no experience with using multiple modalities of simulation in OSCEs. Overall, the majority (74.82%) expressed the belief that simulation-based OSCEs would improve the assessment of EM residents’ competencies. The modalities that received the most support were part-task trainers and hybrid simulation (70.71% and 70%, respectively). CONCLUSION: From this study, we can conclude that both parties (residents and instructors) are largely willing to see multimodality simulation being incorporated into the final board examinations. Stakeholders should interpret this consensus as an impetus to proceed with such an implementation of multimodality simulation. Input from both groups should be considered when planning for such a change in this high-stakes exam.