The OSCE is a valid, reliable and practical method to teach and evaluate clinical skills of students, residents, and practicing physicians. In an OSCE, the clinical competence to be tested is broken down into its various components, e.g. taking a history, examining a particular organ system, communicating specific information with the patient and coming to a conclusion on the basis of the findings. Each component is assessed in turn through stations using standardized patients. The resident is given 6-8 minutes to perform the task. At the end of this time, the examiner has 3-4 minutes to give instant feedback about the performance. Both positive and negative feedback is given and if necessary correct technique to perform the task is demonstrated by the examiner. The resident is also evaluated by the Standardized Patient. These patients are trained to evaluate critical aspects of the resident's performance in interpersonal skills and to provide feedback.

Since the correct method of history taking, physical examination or the other skills being tested has been predetermined, the observers (both the examiners and patients) use a checklist covering all the critical elements of the task. Residents participate in annual OSCE's during the three-year program. Our program is one of the few Internal Medicine Residencies in the country that uses the OSCE method to enhance the clinical skills of the residents.

OSCE's are conducted in the newly renovated Kessler Teaching Labs on our Piscataway campus.