Application of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in German Medical Schools: An Inventory

Introduction The German medical licensing regulations, as amended by the government in 2002, now require the assessment of clinical skills in undergraduate medical education. As a result, the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was introduced as an assessment tool in many medical schools. This article provides a detailed inventory of the current application of the OSCE assessment in Germany. Methods From June to September 2015, the implementation of the OSCE in all 36 German medical schools was investigated using semi-structured telephone interviews and email correspondence. The areas of focus comprised implementation of the OSCE, and number and type of performance records according to the medical licensing regulations or involved disciplines. Following collection, data were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results All medical schools (100 %) participated in the survey. Nearly every school (94 %) has introduced the OSCE into its assessment portfolio, however, to varying extents. For each location, the numbers range between 0 and 18 (M = 4.7) performance records of the clinical science section assessed by OSCEs. The implementation of this assessment format includes most of the clinical performance records, but more than half (51.4 %) of these cover surgery, internal medicine, emergency medicine, anaesthesiology, and orthopaedics. Conclusion The results reported in this paper confirm the widespread introduction of the OSCE assessment in German medical schools. However, the implementation remains heterogeneous with respect to the scope, schools and individual disciplines involved in the process. In order to ensure extensive clinical competence of prospective physicians the application of the OSCE should be broadened. For this purpose, further information to convince medical school staff is still required.