OSCE stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examination.
This is a practical form of assessment or examination often used in health disciplines, such as medicine or nursing.
It is designed to assess students performance and competence in various clinical skills (such as communication with a patient, history taking, physical examination, performing procedures).
Students rotate through a number of timed stations. At each station, they must perform a series of actions, which may or may not be directly witnessed and scored by an examiner using a structured checklist. Examiners may give feedback to students on performance.
Students may also complete written work at a station.
The OSCE was originally introduced by Harden et al, in 1975, in their paper "Assessment of clinical competence using objective structured examination" Br Med J 1975;1:447 (see link below)
