Psychometric Properties of an Objective Structured Clinical Assessment Tool

• We developed and implemented a process for simulation-based testing using an objective structured clinical assessment (OSCA).
• Rubrics were designed and validated to assess students participating in the OSCA.
• With correct procedures, OSCAs are robust assessments of clinical performance.

BackgroundInconsistencies in approaches to clinical teaching and evaluation can lead to significant challenges in the absence of reliable, standardized assessment measures. The purpose of our research was to examine the psychometric properties of a rubric to evaluate students in a simulation testing environment.MethodTwo raters used an evaluation rubric to score the performance of 33 students taking part in an objective structured clinical assessment (OSCA). Content validity and inter-rater reliability statistics were calculated.ResultsThe OSCA as a whole demonstrated excellent content validity and acceptable inter-reliability was obtained on the evaluation rubric.ConclusionsGiven the right process, structure, and support, our results indicate that the OSCA is a robust and reliable approach to evaluate student clinical performance.