Gaining an advantage by sitting an OSCE after your peers: a retrospective study

Ghouri, A., Boachie, C., McDowall, S. , Parle, J., Ditchfield, C. A. , McConnachie, A. , Walters, M. R. and Ghouri, N. (2018) Gaining an advantage by sitting an OSCE after your peers: a retrospective study. Medical Teacher, 40(11), pp. 1136-1142. (doi: 10.1080/0142159X.2018.1458085) (PMID:29687736)

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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate if final year medical students undertaking an OSCE station at a later stage during examination diet were advantaged over their peers who undertook the same station at an earlier stage, and whether any such effect varies by the student’s relative academic standing. Methods: OSCE data from six consecutive final year cohorts totaling 1505 students was analyzed. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to model factors associated with the probability of passing each individual station (random effects for students and circuits; and fixed effects to assess the association with day of examination, time of day, gender and year). Results: Weaker students were more likely to pass if they took their OSCE later in the examination period. The odds of passing a station increased daily by 20%. Overall, the mean number of stations passed by each student increased over the 5 days. Conclusions: Students undertaking the same OSCE stations later in examination period statistically had higher chances of passing compared to their peers, and the weaker students appear to be particularly advantaged. These findings have major implications for OSCE design, to ensure students are not advantaged by examination timing, and weaker students are not “passing in error”.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McConnachie, Professor Alex and Boachie, Mr Charles and Ghouri, Dr Nazim and McDowall, Miss Suzanne and Ditchfield, Dr Carol and Walters, Professor Matthew
Authors: Ghouri, A., Boachie, C., McDowall, S., Parle, J., Ditchfield, C. A., McConnachie, A., Walters, M. R., and Ghouri, N.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
Journal Name:Medical Teacher
Publisher:Taylor and Francis
ISSN:0142-159X
ISSN (Online):1466-187X
Published Online:24 April 2018
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 Informa UK Limited
First Published:First published in Medical Teacher 40(11):1136-1142
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher

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