Assessment in the final year clinical practicum of an Australian osteopathy program

Assessment of students is a cornerstone of health profession education programs. It is essential assessment methods are valid, reliable, fair, defensible and evidence-based. Assessment is a popular topic in health professions literature, although discussions specifically relating to assessment in osteopathic education are limited. This commentary provides an overview of the current assessment methods utilised to assess clinical competency and fitness-to-practice in the final year clinical practicum subjects in an Australian osteopathy program. This summary may be useful to other osteopathy programs in the development and implementation of assessments. Further, this commentary also introduces the concept of programmatic assessment and discusses its application in an osteopathy program.