Student education evaluation exercise considered the OSCE to be a valuable assessment that mirrored the practice role of the occupational therapist .
Student education evaluation exercise considered the OSCE to be a valuable assessment that mirrored the practice role of the occupational therapist .
The assessment did create anxiety for some students , but they said it built on their first placement experience and prepared them for their second placement .
The formative assessment , which provided the students with an opportunity to practice the initial interview in advance of the OSCE , helped to reduce student anxiety . Overall , the OSCE assessment was evaluated very positively .
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Changes for next year
Following the evaluation and feedback a number of changes will be made when it is repeated for a second time . First , we will have one case study for all students ( rather than two ) who has both a physical and mental health condition . The module leader is working with a practitioner to develop the case study based on real referral information to OTs . The case studies will be revealed to the students two weeks before the OSCE assessment , rather than at the start of the module .
Weighting will be added to the different sections of the marking sheet , with a 40 % pass level required rather than pass or fail . A section for the actor ’ s feedback will also be included .
The questions asked by the marker following the initial interview ( see box ) will be reduced to four questions with prompts added , and an additional question – ‘ How did you prepare for the interview ?’ – added .
The OSCE initial interviews will be recorded and moderation will then take place by viewing the recordings , rather than having a floating moderator .
Edwards M and Martin A ( 1989 ) Objective structured clinical examination as a method of occupational therapy student evaluation . Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy , 6 ( 3 ): 128-131 .
Krusen NE and Rollins D ( 2019 ). Design of an OSCE to assess clinical competence of occupational therapy students . Journal of Occupational Therapy Education , 3 ( 1 ).
O ’ Brien J and McNeil S ( 2013 ). Teaching effectiveness : Preparing occupational therapy students for clinical practice . Open Journal of Occupational Therapy , 1 ( 3 ): 2-11
Questions asked by the marker following the initial interview .
How did the interview go ? What do you think you did well ?
Can you briefly name the stages of an occupational therapy process ?
The initial interview forms part of the assessment stage . What is the aim of the initial interview and why is it important ?
Following your initial interview , please provide one occupational therapy aim for the patient .
Can you suggest one area of occupational therapy intervention relevant to the patient ?
Can you suggest one method of evaluation for your occupational therapy intervention with the patient ?
Words SARAH PRIOR , Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy , London South Bank University , contact priors4 @ lsbu . ac . uk
May 2024 OTnews 31