Benchmarking in OSCE

Enhancing Benchmarking in OSCE Assessment

With the continuous advancements in medical assessment systems, the Arab Board of Health Specializations strives to improve the quality of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) and ensure that the benchmarking standards used to evaluate candidates' performance are fair and reliable. Achieving this goal requires enhancing the benchmarking process, which is an ongoing effort involving examiner training, effective feedback provision for candidates, and regular station reviews.

1. Examiner Training and Score Calibration

Standardizing evaluation criteria among examiners is one of the primary challenges in any OSCE system. Variability in scoring can lead to inconsistencies between examiners, affecting the fairness of the examination. To address these challenges, the Arab Board is implementing a structured approach based on continuous training and regular calibration, including:

• Regular workshops for examiners and assessment committee members, where standardized evaluation models are presented to ensure that all examiners apply the same criteria when assigning scores.

• Use of anchor videos, showcasing a range of pre-evaluated performance scenarios, allowing examiners to compare their judgments against agreed-upon reference scores.

• Standardization of checklists and global rating scales, which helps minimize bias and ensures consistency in assessments.

These measures enhance the reliability of the exam by reducing discrepancies between different examiners' scores, making the results more accurate and objective.

2. Providing Effective Feedback and Supporting Candidates

The absence of detailed feedback after OSCE assessments results in a missed opportunity for candidates to improve their future performance. Therefore, the Arab Board ensures that each candidate receives a comprehensive performance analysis, including:

• Station-specific performance analysis, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.

• A structured feedback model, focusing on what the candidate did well and providing constructive guidance on areas for development.

• Personalized performance reports, accessible through a dedicated assessment communication network, enabling candidates to review their performance in detail and take actionable steps to enhance their clinical skills.

This approach transforms assessment from merely assigning scores to an integrated learning process, encouraging candidates to improve their skills through structured educational feedback.

3. Continuous Review of OSCE Stations

To ensure the quality and effectiveness of the OSCE assessment, the Arab Board conducts periodic reviews of examination stations, aiming to:

• Analyze station performance data, including difficulty levels, discrimination indices, and the reliability of assessment items.

• Compare candidate performance across different exam cycles, identifying stations that may be excessively difficult or too easy, allowing for necessary modifications to maintain balance.

• Revise stations that show significant performance discrepancies among candidates, ensuring fairness and equity for all examinees.

This analysis is conducted using digital performance analytics systems, leveraging data from previous examinations to refine station design and align it with global assessment standards.

By continuously enhancing benchmarking in OSCE, the Arab Board of Health Specializations ensures a fair, standardized, and data-driven assessment system that not only evaluates candidates effectively but also contributes to their ongoing professional development.