The Osteopathic Clinical Practice Assessment - a pilot study to develop a new workplace-based assessment tool

There is a clear need for the OCPA to be used in conjunction with other assessment tools in order to make learner progress and fitness-to-practice decisions. Data suggest if learners are assessed at two or more different time points (across a longitudinal placement) changes need to be considered in the rating scale used on the OCPA in order to more clearly demonstrate learner progression. The OCPA could be used as a formative assessment tool in osteopathy with an adjustment to the current rating scale. In its current format caution should be applied if it is to be used as a summative tool as we do not have data supporting its use for this purpose. At present we cannot make any further arguments about the ability of the OCPA results to be extrapolated and make reliable and defensible decisions as there are no data correlating it with other performance assessments nor data supporting its reliability. This will be the subject of future research.