Perception of Students and Examiners about Objective Structured Clinical Examination in a Teaching Hospital in Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has become a standard assessment tool in undergraduate medical school training. It is considered an objective assessment of practical skill of students. OSCE is a resource demanding assessment method that can have numerous challenges. Comprehensive assessment of perception regarding OSCE can help identify areas that need improvement. The aim of this study was to assess the perception of students and examiners towards OSCE. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on students and examiners undertaking OSCE from May 1 to July 30, 2021, using a structured questionnaire. Comparison of variables was done using Mann–Whitney U-Test and Chi-square test. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 141 students and 39 examiners participated in the study. The majority of the students and examiners had a positive response regarding the attributes, structure, organization and validity of OSCE. It was recommended to be used in future exams compared to other assessments by 38.3% of students and 51.3% of examiners. There were certain challenges reported by students and included stressfulness of the exam (51.1%), inadequate time (27.6%), and unsatisfactory orientation (30.5%). One-third of examiners considered it stressful, while 20.5% considered the time provided to be inadequate. Equipment to conduct the exam was considered inadequate by 39.1% and 56.4% of students and examiners, respectively. Around 80.1% of students recommended mock sessions and 23.1% of examiners did not have any prior training on OSCE. CONCLUSION: An overall positive perception of OSCE by students and examiners was seen. Certain challenges that need improvements were identified. Continuing evaluation and refinement of OSCE by departments is needed. We recommend further wide-scale national evaluation of the OSCE examination system of medical students.