How to Prepare OCSEs for MD Medicine Exam?

Uniform, standardized, critical, and reliable. These are some words that come to mind when one has to describe the OSCE. The best thing about this Medicine (MD) examination format is that it simulates a range of real clinical scenarios to test aspiring medical professionals' clinical skills and professional competencies. Sounds fair, right? After all, theory is critical, but practical knowledge is the one thing that makes a huge difference when a new medical practitioner has to take action. In simple words, OSCE tests whether students can deal with real-life clinical situations. These tests focus on practical skills, clinical knowledge, leadership, situational awareness, resource management, and teamwork.


Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is divided into several real-life scenarios, called stations. Typically, there are 10 to 20 stations where an extensive range of clinical scenarios are simulated. These stations simulate real-life clinical situations where a patient has symptoms and students are asked to perform tasks. Every student is judged on various parameters. Did they ask the patient the right questions? Did they go for the required physical examination, tests, scans, etc.? Did they effectively perform history-taking and disease management?
 Amid all these scenarios, some complexities may also be thrown in to increase the difficulty level of the tests.

OSCE is designed to see if the participating students are ready for the real deal, i.e., the hospital floor with real patients and real challenges. It assesses if a student can apply their theoretical knowledge to understand a patient's symptoms and effectively decide a treatment process. OSCE also tests if a student can collaborate with colleagues, communicate with the patient and their family, and abide by hospital and medical guidelines.

Naturally, the thought of having to perform in real-life scenarios, ask patients about symptoms, and decide a course of action while being judged for each and every move can be daunting for students. In this article, we will try to understand OSCEs and how students can crack it.

So, step one is to understand the format of the OSCE. What really happens in the test? First, students are escorted to the exam track, where stations are located. Students will need to go to various stations as directed and leave the stations within the timeline. At these stations, an examiner will ask students for their candidate code. At each station, they will receive a set of instructions and details of equipment, setting, and Standardized Patients (SP). Students can request props or additional materials like lab results, scans, etc. An observer records their performance as students carry on with their process at these stations. Here, it is essential for students not to pay attention to this observer or their facial expressions and to focus on the tasks at hand.

At every station, students are judged on their history-taking abilities, diagnosis skills, data interpretation, investigation, management, and communication skills. At this point, students must remember a few things. For example, the individuals they will "examine" during the OSCE may be in good health or have chronic, stable conditions. These individuals are trained to present the signs and symptoms of a real patient accurately. While interacting with these individuals, the students must assume they are real patients and take everything they say seriously. Students should be very clear in their communication during all stages. The Patient Educator (PE) will need to be kept informed of all the physical examinations the students would like to execute verbally. The PE will provide the findings and results.

Below are a few simple tips that can help students put their best foot forward in an OSCE:

Practise with friends

As odd as it may sound, OSCE is all about performance. It's almost like an acting job. And every performance needs rehearsal. Practise  OSCE scenarios and get the help of your friends or siblings to play the part of the patient or even the observer. The more you rehearse and learn, the better prepared you will be at your stations.

Make the most of your reading time

Students participating in OSCE get 2-3 minutes of reading time when someone explains the scenario. Now, this time may sound short, but students should use this time to focus, build situational awareness, and formulate their strategy for handling the scenario.

Look for OSCE videos online

Students can find an array of OSCE videos on YouTube, which can help them understand the pressure at stations and even give them tips on handling various scenarios during the test. These videos assist students in understanding the structure of OSCE tests, how examiners grade, and more.

Look for the best Medicine MD online courses which include OSCEs

It is also important to search for reputed Medicine MD online resources. Diginerve’s Medicine MD course by Dr. Jyotirmoy Pal and Dr. Shashank R. Joshi has been designed to address the gaps in the clinical skills of postgraduate students and physicians. The course can be a great online tool that can help students master the various skills that can come in handy during their Medicine MD exams, such as the OSCE, including the following:

History-taking and Clinical Methods: During OSCE, the questions that students ask the patients are vital, and this course helps them understand the art of patient interaction and examination.

Investigations in Medicine: Diagnosis and treatment plans suggested after the history taken by students are also judged during OSCE. The course has a special section devoted to investigations.

Decision-making: The course features information in video and flashcard formats, enabling students to practice scenarios for the actual OSCE.

When it comes to MD medicine video lectures from online sources, this course has all the good stuff spanning fundamental basic sciences, in-depth long and short case discussions, and lectures on decision-making in medicine.

With video lectures, carefully selected long case discussion videos covering important medical specialties, MCQs, and important tips for success in MDMedicine, and OCSEs, Diginerve’s Medicine MD has the potential to transform students into great physicians ready to nail their OCSE preparation.

To know more about the MD Medicine e-learning course by Diginerve, click on the link below:

https://www.diginerve.com/course/medicine-md/

All the best for your OSCE guys!

Fun fact: The first-ever OSCE was held at the University of Dundee in 1972.

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