Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study

Introduction Objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) are a cornerstone of assessing the competence of trainee healthcare professionals, but have been criticised for (1) lacking authenticity, (2) variability in examiners’ judgements which can challenge assessment equivalence and (3) for limited d...

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Main Authors: Geoff Wong, Kathy Cullen, Rhian Goodfellow, Gareth McCray, Richard Fuller, Robert K McKinley, Ruth Kinston, Peter Yeates, Adriano Maluf, Natalie Cope, Vikki O’Neill, Aidan Cole, Rebecca Vallender, Ching-Wa Chung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-12-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e064387.full
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author Geoff Wong
Kathy Cullen
Rhian Goodfellow
Gareth McCray
Richard Fuller
Robert K McKinley
Ruth Kinston
Peter Yeates
Adriano Maluf
Natalie Cope
Vikki O’Neill
Aidan Cole
Rebecca Vallender
Ching-Wa Chung
author_facet Geoff Wong
Kathy Cullen
Rhian Goodfellow
Gareth McCray
Richard Fuller
Robert K McKinley
Ruth Kinston
Peter Yeates
Adriano Maluf
Natalie Cope
Vikki O’Neill
Aidan Cole
Rebecca Vallender
Ching-Wa Chung
author_sort Geoff Wong
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) are a cornerstone of assessing the competence of trainee healthcare professionals, but have been criticised for (1) lacking authenticity, (2) variability in examiners’ judgements which can challenge assessment equivalence and (3) for limited diagnosticity of trainees’ focal strengths and weaknesses. In response, this study aims to investigate whether (1) sharing integrated-task OSCE stations across institutions can increase perceived authenticity, while (2) enhancing assessment equivalence by enabling comparison of the standard of examiners’ judgements between institutions using a novel methodology (video-based score comparison and adjustment (VESCA)) and (3) exploring the potential to develop more diagnostic signals from data on students’ performances.Methods and analysis The study will use a complex intervention design, developing, implementing and sharing an integrated-task (research) OSCE across four UK medical schools. It will use VESCA to compare examiner scoring differences between groups of examiners and different sites, while studying how, why and for whom the shared OSCE and VESCA operate across participating schools. Quantitative analysis will use Many Facet Rasch Modelling to compare the influence of different examiners groups and sites on students’ scores, while the operation of the two interventions (shared integrated task OSCEs; VESCA) will be studied through the theory-driven method of Realist evaluation. Further exploratory analyses will examine diagnostic performance signals within data.Ethics and dissemination The study will be extra to usual course requirements and all participation will be voluntary. We will uphold principles of informed consent, the right to withdraw, confidentiality with pseudonymity and strict data security. The study has received ethical approval from Keele University Research Ethics Committee. Findings will be academically published and will contribute to good practice guidance on (1) the use of VESCA and (2) sharing and use of integrated-task OSCE stations.
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spelling doaj-art-3e23a706f6df4d60a0a590bc2aec1e0a2025-08-20T03:48:46ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-12-01121210.1136/bmjopen-2022-064387Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention studyGeoff Wong0Kathy Cullen1Rhian Goodfellow2Gareth McCray3Richard Fuller4Robert K McKinley5Ruth Kinston6Peter Yeates7Adriano Maluf8Natalie Cope9Vikki O’Neill10Aidan Cole11Rebecca Vallender12Ching-Wa Chung13Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Oxford University, Oxford, UK3RespiratorySchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, UKSchool of Medicine, University of Liverpool Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool, UKemeritus professor of education in general practiceSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UKSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UKSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UKSchool of Medicine, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UKSchool of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, UKSchool of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, UKIntroduction Objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) are a cornerstone of assessing the competence of trainee healthcare professionals, but have been criticised for (1) lacking authenticity, (2) variability in examiners’ judgements which can challenge assessment equivalence and (3) for limited diagnosticity of trainees’ focal strengths and weaknesses. In response, this study aims to investigate whether (1) sharing integrated-task OSCE stations across institutions can increase perceived authenticity, while (2) enhancing assessment equivalence by enabling comparison of the standard of examiners’ judgements between institutions using a novel methodology (video-based score comparison and adjustment (VESCA)) and (3) exploring the potential to develop more diagnostic signals from data on students’ performances.Methods and analysis The study will use a complex intervention design, developing, implementing and sharing an integrated-task (research) OSCE across four UK medical schools. It will use VESCA to compare examiner scoring differences between groups of examiners and different sites, while studying how, why and for whom the shared OSCE and VESCA operate across participating schools. Quantitative analysis will use Many Facet Rasch Modelling to compare the influence of different examiners groups and sites on students’ scores, while the operation of the two interventions (shared integrated task OSCEs; VESCA) will be studied through the theory-driven method of Realist evaluation. Further exploratory analyses will examine diagnostic performance signals within data.Ethics and dissemination The study will be extra to usual course requirements and all participation will be voluntary. We will uphold principles of informed consent, the right to withdraw, confidentiality with pseudonymity and strict data security. The study has received ethical approval from Keele University Research Ethics Committee. Findings will be academically published and will contribute to good practice guidance on (1) the use of VESCA and (2) sharing and use of integrated-task OSCE stations.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e064387.full
spellingShingle Geoff Wong
Kathy Cullen
Rhian Goodfellow
Gareth McCray
Richard Fuller
Robert K McKinley
Ruth Kinston
Peter Yeates
Adriano Maluf
Natalie Cope
Vikki O’Neill
Aidan Cole
Rebecca Vallender
Ching-Wa Chung
Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
BMJ Open
title Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
title_full Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
title_fullStr Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
title_short Enhancing authenticity, diagnosticity and equivalence (AD-Equiv) in multicentre OSCE exams in health professionals education: protocol for a complex intervention study
title_sort enhancing authenticity diagnosticity and equivalence ad equiv in multicentre osce exams in health professionals education protocol for a complex intervention study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e064387.full
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