OBJECTIVELY STRUCTURED PERFORMANCE EVALUATION – A LEARNING TOOL

The teaching and learning of medical students has always been a complicated process. Even the best of teachers at time may struggle in communicating knowledge and assessing its uptake. Simulated clinical and practical tools have recently gained popularity across the globe. They provide information regarding all the three aspects of assessment namely knowledge, skills and attitude. OSCE was first introduced by Harden in 1975. It encourages deep learning by testing higher cognitive functions. University of Health Sciences Lahore (UHS) modified the OSCE and introduced Objectively Structured Performance Evaluation (OSPE) in 2008. In Pakistan, it is a relatively new assessment method. The aim of OSPE is to make practical examinations fair, objective and standardized in line with Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) and the local needs. Assessment techniques appear to have an impact on students’ study strategies’ and influence their performance, that is, “Assessment Drives Learning.” Therefore in order to cope with assessments, students adapt different learning styles, viz., Deep Approach (DA), Surface Apathetic Approach (SAA) and Strategic Approach (SA). OSPE assesses students’ knowledge, different skills and attitude at the same time, therefore, leads the students to read the subject widely and to practice clinical skills extensively. It helps students not to just remember theory but also helps them to critically reflect on their learning course and its outcomes, therefore covering not only the cognitive but also effective domains. The aim of this paper is to review the impact of OSPE on students learning i.e. OSPE as a learning tool. Literature has been reviewed extensively using Pubmed Medline, Paknet, Mediscape and Google Socratic. Review of literature has shown OSPE is a valuable learning tool.