Experiences with conducting the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as a formative tool at the end of Paediatric Posting in a new Medical School in Nigeria

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Medical schools use varied evaluation methods to certify students’ acquisition of required skills and competencies. Although OSCE has gained global adoption for competency testing, its uptake in Nigeria has been slower, and local experiences remain limited. This study develops and administers an OSCE for formative assessment of undergraduate medical students from Kaduna State University at the end of paediatrics clinical rotation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

OSCE as an assessment tool in medical education

Need for OSCE adoption in Nigeria

Methodology

OSCE development and station-based conduct

Results

Competency domains assessed across stations

Discussion

Resource demands and challenges

Conclusions

Feasibility of OSCE for paediatric rotation

Musa S Aliyu-Zubairu RHaliru LAndeyansto EA Dodo A CC –BY Experiences with conducting the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as a formative tool at the end of Paediatric Posting in a new Medical School in Nigeria DOI:[http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njp.v46i1.3](http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njp.v46i1.3) [Accepted: 16th February 2019](Accepted: 16th February 2019) Musa S ( ) Aliyu-Zubairu R, Haliru LAndeyansto EA, Dodo A Department of Paediatrics, Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna. Nigeria [Email: musa4all@gmail.com](Email: musa4all@gmail.com) Abstract: Background: Medical schools use different evaluation methods after students undergo a period of instruction for certification of acquisition of requisite skills and competencies required for registration. Despite a global trend towards adoption of OSCE format to test competencies, its adoption in medical schools in Nigeria has been relatively slow and local experiences with its use are limited. We describe the development and administration of OSCE for the formative assessment of undergraduate medical students of Kaduna state university at the end of paediatrics clinical rotation. Methodology: OSCE was developed and conducted to assess clinical skills of 20 undergraduate medical students at the end of clinical posting in paediatrics. Students rotated through a series of clinical encounters arranged in ten stations in a circuit, each for a short duration of five minutes. Clinical tasks were carefully chosen to reflect learning objectives of the posting using standardized patients while scoring was done using task-specific and validated checklists by the same assessors. Results: A range of clinical competencies in different clinical scenarios, including history taking, physical examination and basic clinical skills was examined using this format. The conduct was resource intensive with much time spent during the selection of the competencies and appropriate standardized patients to be tested, standardization of checklists, briefing assessorsand choosing appropriate venue as well as preparation of stations. Unfamiliarity with OSCE by both some students and assessors was a major challenge. Conclusions: OSCE is a feasible way of assessing a wide range of clinical competencies of medical students during paediatric rotation in our setting. Key words: OSCE, Evaluation, Assessment, Competencies, Skills Introduction Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital is the newly accredited Teaching Hospital for the training of clinical students of the College of Medicine of the Kaduna State University. Different departments are required to instruct potential doctors in their areas of expertise in rotation otherwise referred to as clinical postings or clerkship, and to access them at the end of the period of posting in order to certify that they have acquired the requisite knowledge, skills and competencies required for registration as medical doctors with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) . The Department of Paediatrics plays a key role in ascertaining that only competent and knowledgeable students with the right attitude to practice the profession are allowed to eventually graduate. One way of ensuring that students have achieved the intended and expected learning outcomes is to put them to test in all the learning domains of knowledge, skills, attitude and behaviours.1 The evaluation of acquired clinical skills and attitudes is therefore an essential component of this assessment of clinical competency.2 The newly accredited Department of Paediatrics of the College of Medicine Kaduna State University therefore needs to employ the most appropriate assessment tools for this purpose. The tools available for both training and assessment in medical education are however continually changing, 1 which makes it necessary for the trainers, the training institutions as well as the trainees to be up-to-date with 10 current trends in line with best practic

FAQs

What purpose does the OSCE serve in this paediatric posting setting?

The OSCE is used as a formative assessment tool at the end of the paediatrics clinical rotation to evaluate clinical skills and competency acquisition.

How was the OSCE conducted for the participating students?

The OSCE assessed 20 undergraduate students using a circuit of stations, with students rotating through a series of clinical encounters for short durations, and scoring using task-specific validated checklists.

What challenges were reported during the OSCE implementation?

The conduct was resource intensive, requiring substantial time for selecting competencies and standardized patients, standardizing checklists, briefing assessors, choosing a venue, and preparing stations; unfamiliarity with OSCE affected some students and assessors.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Connor