Using OSCEs with simulation to maximise student learning and assess competencies in psychology: A pilot study

Rachel Roberts; Anna Chur-Hansen; Helen Winefield; Simon Patten; Helena Ward; Diana Dorstyn

doi:10.11157/fohpe.v18i2.140

Authors

Rachel Roberts University of Adelaide
Anna Chur-Hansen University of Adelaide
Helen Winefield University of Adelaide
Simon Patten University of Adelaide
Helena Ward
Diana Dorstyn

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11157/fohpe.v18i2.140

Keywords:

OSCE, Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, simulation, competency, training, psychology

Abstract

Introduction: There is limited research on the use of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) in psychology despite their extensive use in medicine. This pilot study extended the evidence base by assessing the impact on student learning of OSCEs focused on motivational interviewing.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used with quantitative and qualitative data analysed. Data were collated from all 14 professional psychology students enrolled in a health psychology course.

Results: Findings suggest that OSCEs are a feasible, reliable and valid method for professional psychology trainees to demonstrate competencies in complex, interventional skills.

Conclusions: Implications for incorporating OSCEs into professional psychology training are described. Future work addressing issues including optimal approaches to provision of feedback for learning is needed.

References

Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). (2010). Rules & accreditation standards for psychology courses (Version 10). Flinders Lane, Victoria: Author. Retrieved from www.psychologycouncil.org.au/Assets/Files/APAC_Rules_for%20_Accreditation_and_Accreditation_Standards_for%20_Psychology_Courses_Ver_10_June_2010.pdf

Barnes, R. D., & Ivezaj, V. (2015). A systematic review of motivational interviewing for weight loss among adults in primary care. Obesity Reviews, 16, 304–318. doi:10.1111/obr.12264

Brennan, P. A., Croke, D. T., Reed, M., Smith, L., Munro, E., Foulkes, J., & Arnett, R. (2016). Does changing examiner stations during UK postgraduate surgery objective structured clinical examinations influence examination reliability and candidates’ scores? Journal of Surgical Education. Advance online publication. doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2015.12.004

Chur-Hansen, A., & Burg, F. D. (2006). Working with standardised patients for teaching and learning. The Clinical Teacher, 3, 220–224.

Cramer, R. J., Johnson, S. M., McLaughlin, J., Rausch, E. M., & Conroy, M. A. (2013). Suicide risk assessment training for psychology doctoral programs: Core competencies and a framework for training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 7, 1–11. doi:10.1037/a0031836

Dwyer, T., Wright, S., Kulasegaram, K. M., Theodoropoulos, J., Chahal, J., Wasserstein, D., . . . Ogilvie-Harris, D. (2016). How to set the bar in competency-based medical education: Standard setting after an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). BMC Medical Education, 16, 1. doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0506-z

Ekong, G., & Kavookjian, J. (2015). Motivational interviewing and outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review. Patient Education & Counselling, 99, 944–952. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2015.11.022

Eva, K. W., Rosenfeld, J., Reiter, H. I., & Norman, G. R. (2004). An admissions OSCE: The multiple mini‐interview. Medical Education, 38, 314–326. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2923.2004.01776.x

Fanning, R. M., & Gaba, D. M. (2007). The role of debriefing in simulation-based learning. Simulation in Healthcare, 2, 115–125. doi:10.1097/SIH.0b013e3180315539

Furmedge, D. S., Smith, L. J., & Sturrock, A. (2016). Developing doctors: What are the attitudes and perceptions of year 1 and 2 medical students towards a new integrated formative objective structured clinical examination? BMC Medical Education, 16, 1. doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0542-3

Gillaspy, S. R., Litzenburg, C. C., Leffingwell, T. R., & Miller, M. B. (2015). Training in motivational interviewing as a best training practice in pediatric psychology: Relationship to core competencies. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 3, 225–232. doi:10.1037/cpp0000106

Hallgren, K. A. (2012). Computing inter-rater reliability for observational data: An overview and tutorial. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods in Psychology, 8, 23–34.

Hodges, B. D., Hollenberg, E., McNaughton, N., Hanson, M. D., & Regehr, G. (2014). The psychiatry OSCE: A 20-year retrospective. Academic Psychiatry, 38, 26–34. doi:10.1007/s40596-013-0012-8

Hodges, B. D., & McNaughton, N. (2009). Who should be an OSCE examiner? Academic Psychiatry, 33, 282–284. doi:10.1176/appi.ap.33.4.282

Johnston, J. L., Lundy, G., McCullough. M., & Gormley, G. J. (2013). The view from over there: Reframing the OSCE through the experience of standardised patient raters. Medical Education, 47, 899–909. doi:10.1111/medu.12243

Joseph, J., & Basu, D. (2016). Efficacy of brief interventions in reducing hazardous or harmful alcohol use in middle-income countries: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Alcohol. Advance online publication.

Karen, O., King, R., Malone, K. M., & Guerandel, A. (2014). Clinical examiners, simulated patients, and student self-assessed empathy in medical students during a psychiatry objective structured clinical examination. Academic Psychiatry, 38, 451–457.

Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. C. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174.

Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative content analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1, 20.

McManus, J., & Bennett, L. (2015). Clinical portfolios: Putting the new British Psychological Society standards for clinical psychology programmes into practice. Clinical Psychology Forum, 276, 32–35.

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2012). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Monteiro, S. D., Walsh, A., & Grierson, L. E. (2016). OSCE circuit performance effects: Does circuit order influence scores? Medical Teacher, 38, 98–100. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2015.1075647

Motola, I., Devine, L. A., Chung, H. S., Sullivan, J. E., & Issenberg, S. B. (2013). Simulation in healthcare education: A best evidence practical guide (AMEE Guide No. 82). Medical Teacher, 35, e1511–e1530. doi:10.3109/0142159X.2013.818632

Muldoon, K., Biesty, L., & Smith, V. (2014). “I found the OSCE very stressful”: Student midwives' attitudes towards an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Nurse Education Today, 34, 468–473. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2013.04.022

Newble, D. (2004). Techniques for measuring clinical competence: Objective structured clinical examinations. Medical Education, 38, 199–203. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2004.01755.x

Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1984). The transtheoretical approach: Crossing traditional boundaries of therapy. Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.

Sheen, J., McGillvray, J., Gurtman, C., & Boyd, L. (2015). Assessing the clinical competence of psychology students through Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs): Student and staff views. Australian Psychologist, 50, 51–59. doi:10.1111/ap.12086

Swanson, D. B., & Roberts, T. E. (2016). Trends in national licensing examinations in medicine. Medical Education, 50, 101–114. doi:10.1111/medu.12810

Swanson, D. B., & van der Vleuten, C. P. M. (2013). Assessment of clinical skills with standardized patients: State of the art revisited. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 25, S17–S25. doi:10.1080/10401339009539432

Yap, K., Bearman, M., Thomas, N., & Hay, M. (2012). Clinical psychology students’ experiences of a pilot objective structured clinical examination. Australian Psychologist, 47, 165–173. doi:10.1111/j.1742-9544.2012.00078.x