Videos in the medical student objective structured clinical examination: A systematic review

Introduction: The use of video in objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) may serve as a means of facilitating assessment, as a component of the exam itself or utilised as a tool in other ways. The aim of this review was to summarise the evidence currently supporting the uses of video in relation to the OSCE process. Methods: A systematic search of Pubmed, Medline, EMBASE, Scopus and PsychInfo was conducted on 12 April 2017 using the subject heading "(OSCE OR objective structured clinical examination) AND (video OR recording)". To be deemed eligible, the paper had to be a primary research paper, involve the analysis of OSCEs conducted for medical students and involve the use of video technology. Results: Thirty-six articles met eligibility criteria. Twenty-four investigated the use of video within OSCEs as a means of facilitating the exam, nine detailed cases where video was integrated as a part of an OSCE and three utilised videos in some other way. Of those that investigated the use of video as a means of facilitation, only one compared the use of video to traditional in-room examiners. Other articles in this category demonstrated good inter-rater reliability between different assessors marking via video. Conclusion: There is currently limited evidence regarding the usefulness and educational benefit of introducing video into the assessment of clinical skills, and minimal research evaluating the use of video compared to traditional live examiners as a means of facilitating the assessment of students currently exists. Preliminary results demonstrated reasonably high inter-rater reliability. This should be a topic of future research.