It was all hands on deck for the Southern Medical Program’s (SMP) inaugural Year 4 Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) held at the Clinical Academic Campus on November 29 and 30, 2014.
The Year 4 OSCEs encompassed 16 different simulated patient cases from an array of medical disciplines from family medicine to neurology to pediatrics. For each clinical exam, a standardized patient (or patient actor) is trained to act out a scenario and simulate real medical conditions. The student examines the patient and presents their findings to an OSCE Examiner, a clinical faculty member. The OSCE Examiner evaluates each student on their communication skills, line of questioning, and findings.
By the numbers, 30 SMP students each participated in 16 examinations divided over two days. 39 standardized patients were utilized with each receiving one to four hours training depending upon the complexities of the case. 22 SMP clinical faculty and 16 staff helped administer the exams with many contributing their time for the entire weekend.
Thank you to everyone for their assistance with this year’s exams. A special thanks to Dr. Katherine Smart, PMP & Year 4 Electives Course Lead and Kyla Shaw, Years 3 & 4 Assessment and Evaluation Coordinator for their efforts in ensuring the operation ran smoothly. The entire event was a great accomplishment and another major milestone for the SMP leading up to the graduation of the first cohort this coming spring.