OSCEhome Systematic Approach vs checklists

A Step By Step Guide To Mastering The OSCEs

A Step By Step Guide to Mastering the OSCEs!

The One Of A Kind Systematic Approach To Medical OSCE Exams Preparation!

Objective Structured Clinical Examination, OSCE, also called Objective Standardized Clinical Examination is tough. OSCE exams like USMLE Step 2 CS, MCCQE II, PLAB Part 2, AMC Clinical, TRAS 2, Medical Students OSCEs, Medical Schools Finals, and Clinical Skills Assessments for International or Foreign Medical Graduates are really difficult and stressful. That is what it is. I’m not going to say it is easy as what clinical educators and OSCE organizers usually claim trying to make it acceptable for you.

OSCE Exams consist of several clinical encounters (called stations) with specially trained actors playing the role of a patient with some sort of a medical complaint (called Standardized Patient, SP).

Let’s take few minutes here to imagine your situation during the OSCE. This is an important step as you may realize that the first step to deal with any issue is to completely understand what it is.

You will find a lot of articles and web pages describing what are the OSCE exam procedures. They present the OSCE in a scientific academic context. I am sure you already have read several of these.

Are you?… Did you read between the lines?… Have you achieved an understanding about how your physical and mental status will be during the OSCE exam?

Well, let me explain it for you. Just concentrate. Imagine yourself in a hallway with several other candidates each standing in front of a closed door. Several individuals are watching you for any violation of the rules. Then a bell or a buzzer goes on. You have one or two minutes to read a full page hanged on that door describing what the station ahead is and what is you required to do.

Usually, you’ll need to read the instructions several times because you’re nervous, you heart is racing and your mind isn’t catching what your eyes are reading!

Then, a second bell/buzzer sounds. You knock the door and enter the room. In each room, you will find a new patient and a different room setting. In some OSCE Exams, an examiner is present in the room. In such cases, you have to hand out the examiner one or two of your identification stickers that you may have looked for them and didn’t find. Remember you are nervous.

Then you have to start as your limited time has already been started when the second bell/buzzer went on. You need to get information from the SP or may be examine or consult him/her. Your voice is low. Your hands are shaking. You look unconfident and don’t know what to do. You are at the center of focus of both the SP and the OSCE examiner (present or through video monitoring). Both are watching you carefully. Listening to you.

Those SPs are well trained not to give you any information unless you specifically ask for it. That is not like real life medical encounters where the patient will say everything when you ask about the reason of their visit. So, you have to know what questions you need to ask, The OSCE Examiner checklist.

As you were asking, the patient replies by questions for you. Questions like ‘What do you mean?’, ‘Do I have to answer that?’, ‘Is this relevant to my problem?’, ‘Why are you asking this?’. All these questions are intended to shake you if that wasn’t a reflex of your poorly phrased questions. You start to lose control over yourself and the encounter. You start to make fatal mistakes like being disrespectful to the patient and unprofessional. You’ll jump from topic to topic unorganized. And you’ll forget to ask questions that are important to fulfill the examiner checklist! That examiner who is sitting or standing closely observing you and filling out your checklist and writing comments.
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Suddenly the bell/buzzer goes on again. The station is over. Oh my God. There are still tons of questions that I have to ask. I missed this station. You’ll start the process of self-blaming. You’ll feel hopeless.
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As you proceed, you’ll try to hold yourself up. You’ll find that you had already wasted substantial time of the minute before the next station or in some exams where there is a post encounter oral or writing question period or patient notes writing period.
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The cycle starts again and again.

By the fourth or fifth station, you’ll feel exhausted and your brain starts to ache. You’ll feel unable to think about the coming station and you start to give up claiming that you’ll do your best.
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Did you get what I wanted you to understand? Let me put it in summary:
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· You will be nervous, irritable and cannot think straight.
· You will be physically and mentally exhausted.
· Your time is running fast and is not enough.
· Some SPs will be challenging you intentionally and waist your time.
· You need to be organized and manage your time effectively.
· You need to know in advance what to ask, as there is no time to think.
· You need to be careful about how to phrase your questions and comments in order to be respectful and empathic. Remmeber, no time to think.
· You need to ask your questions intelligently in order not to lead the patient or trigger programmed time wasting and problem evoking conversations.
· You need to be and appear confident, organized, and professional.
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Is that easy?… Of course not.

Is it impossible to do?… Of course not.

Thousands of medical students, residents, and graduates have done it…. Okay, so it is not easy and at the same time not impossible. You need to assign the needed time and effort to prepare yourself to the OSCE Exams and you’ll be just fine.



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But how to prepare yourself for the OSCEs?
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This ebook, A Step By Step Guide To Mastering The OSCEs, will help you to:

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1. A Step By Step Flowcharts To Follow Through Out Your Organized Controlled Medical Interview OSCE Exam.

2. A Complete History Taking Templates For All Common OSCEs In ALL Specialties.

3. Ready To Use Questions Templates Of What & How & When To Ask, Not Only Checklists That You Need To Figure Out How To Cover In Your OSCE Exam.

4. Question Templates That Cover All Related Differential Diagnosis And Covers The Checklists Without The Need To Think About The Case.

5. A Step By Step Guide Of How To Perform A Physical Examination, What To Examine, And What To Tell The Patient And The OSCE Examiner (if present) While Examining The SP.

6. A Step By Step Guide To Follow About What, When, And How To Manage Any Emergency Setting OSCE Station.

7. How To Organize A Counseling Station In The OSCEs.

8. Complete Carefully Phrased Sentences Of How To Approach Sensitive Issues Like Menses, Sexual History, And Abuse In An Ethical Manner.

9. Master Verbal Communications Indirectly By Just Memorizing The Templates and Perform Them In Your OSCE Exam.

10. How To Unlock Difficult Medical Encounters? To Deal with 20 Difficult OSCE Scenarios Like Depression, Breaking Bad News, .......



Let’s start. You can do it.
We can help you pass the OSCEs with high score.
You just need someone to show you specifically how to do it, and We can help. Let’s start.



Download it NOW, Don't waste your time


Dr. Alimari, MD
www.oscehome.com

The Six Competencies required in OSCE Exams

I hope you had read the six general competencies. What does that mean to your OSCE Exam preparation?

Well not every thing can be taught. You have to understand the general role that you have to perform as a physician and use your background with all its experiences, culture and personal differences.

You are not nothing. You don't have to rebuild your approach from scratch. Just make sure that what you have is good for you or not and take it from there. There are always room for improvement in every aspect of us.

Let me list them and explain each competency in relation to the your OSCE Exam. This is not my personal idea. This what your regulatory bodies want us to do:

1- Patient Care:

In your OSCE, you should show them your ability to:
- Interact with the patient and their family in a caring and respectful manner.
- Effective non-leading non-judgmental approach for history taking. e.g verbal and non verbal communications.
- Medical interview skills. e.g. organize the interview structure and keep in control.
- Patient informed decision making.
- Counsel and educate patients and their families interactively. e.g don't lecture them
- Develop and carry out un agreed upon management plans. e.g. engage the patient and family.
Preventive health service. e.g. advice for stop smoking.
- Work as a team with other health professionals. e.g. offer referral to other community health resources and YOU will arrange that IF they agree.
- Use information technology. e.g offer printed information, website addresses, classes for further information.

2- Medical Knowledge:

- Cover the differential diagnosis: Never focus on one diagnoses even if it is obvious.
- Pick up a working diagnosis. Suggest the diagnosis but need to confirm with investigations.
- Investigations to differentiate. Use with patient comfort, benefit, risk, and cost in your mind. Evidence based and cost to the health system. Always be able to answer why to order this test?
- Analytic thinking and clinical decision making. e.g develop flow charts to follow in your management plan.

3- Practice based learning and development:

- Analyze your current way on clinical practice. e.g Watch yourself and ask friends to watch you. Ask for constructive feedback. Look for resources to analyze your current verbal and non verbal communications.
- Improve your skills using proven measures. How to improve the good ones and how to change the bad ones.
- Practice, Practice, and more practice until the new approach becomes your routine everyday approach.

4- Interpersonal and communication skills:

- Develop your listening skills. Be attentive to the patient and never interrupt.
- Create rapport with patient. Develop an ethical relationship.
- Work effectively with other health care professionals. Common OSCE station, a pharmacist who refuses to fill your subscription of the morning after pill to a teenage that he knows.

5- Professionalism:

- Demonstrate respect, compassion, responsiveness to patient needs. Lots of check marks.
- Commitment to ethics like confidentiality, informed consult, business conflicts. Lot of OSCEs.
- Sensitive to culture, age, gender, disabilities (Diversity). Lot of OSCE scenarios.

6- System based practice:

- Practice cost effective care. Be prepared for Why you ordered this test.
- Assist patients to access and coordinate other healthcare providers. Offer to arrange appointments for your referrals.

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I hope you found this valuable. You know now why that OSCE station is there and what do they want us to do in it.

Keep these points in your unconscious mind while you practice and practice. With time you will adopt them.

All of these points have been taken into considerations in our ebooks.

Best wishes for your OSCE exam preparation.

Dr Alimari, MD
www.OSCEhome.com

P.S: Please feel free to forward this information e-mail to your medical colleagues.

OSCEs home - The Objective Structured Clinical Examination, OSCE Exam & Clinical Skills Assessment

OSCEs home - The Objective Structured Clinical Examination, OSCE Exam & Clinical Skills Assessment:

"What is Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCEs)?

Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCEs) is a form of performance-based testing used to measure the trainees' clinical competence.

During an OSCE exam, trainees are observed and evaluated as they go through a series of stations in which they interview, examine and treat standardized patients who present with some type of problem.

The principle method for clinical skills assessment and communication skills assessment in medical schools and licensure bodies across USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and others, is now the Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCEs) . OSCE exam is the format used in USMLE Step 3, USMLE Step 2 CS, ECFMG, MCCQE part II, PLAB 2, Clinical skills assessment, and OSCEs for medical students.

The hallway of OSCE exam rooms, each occupied by a uniquely challenging patient, is a familiar milieu to the physician or other healthcare professional. When standardized patients (SPs) are utilized in OSCE exams, the linear sequence of the multiple station and skill challenges bears remarkable similarity to that real environment.

This site has been organized by medical students and medical residents for medical students and medical residents. It is not to judge whether Objective Structured Clinical Examination is a good or bad way for clinical skills assessment. OSCE exams has been here for a while now and will stay. This site is about helping each other to acquire the necessary skills to pass the OSCE exams in your preparation for clinical skills assessment exams like USMLE Step 3, USMLE Step 2 CS, ECFMG, MCCQE part II, PLAB 2, Clinical skills assessment, and OSCEs for medical students.

These clinical skills and communication skills are not only helpful to pass the OSCE exam, they are essential to be an efficient, thorough, clever, considerate, and successful physician. It will save you time, efforts, lawsuits, and earn you respect, fame, self-content, and profit! Thus, it logical to make your OSCE Exam preparation a make over for your medical practice at the same time!

Medical students as well as medical residents and international medical graduates who are preparing for any OSCE Exam like USMLE Step 3, USMLE Step 2 CS, ECFMG, MCCQE part II, PLAB 2, Clinical skills assessment, and OSCEs for medical students, will find here a vast range of helpful study materials, tips, and recourses to improve their clinical skills. Information prepared by distinguished medical students, medical residents, and international medical graduates who used them successfully.

Dr Alimari, MD
www.OSCEhome.com

Now how to improve your way of dealing with difficult patient OSCEs?

How to improve your clinical skills of dealing with difficult patient OSCEs?

As Objective Structured Clinical Examination stations (OSCE Exam) are simulation of real life medical encounters. Difficult to deal with patient scenarios will be also seen in these exams. These difficult behaviours will be seen either embedded as a short part of the station scenario or as a full station by itself.

We need to prepare ourselves to these difficult patient OSCEs because we will be assessed mainly for our communication skills in these OSCE exam stations.

These OSCE Exams need a lot of empathy too but be careful don't act as a social worker. Act as an attending caring efficient physician and use the communication skills as a mean, not as a goal.

We have gathered information, tips, and step by step guide of how to deal with difficult patient OSCEs in one easy to read and memorize ebook "How To Unlock Difficult Medical Encounters". We need your opinion for the second edition. Download it now, study it, and blog or email your comments.

P.S: You are invited to email or blog your comments.

Dr. Alimari, MD
www.OSCEhome.com