Is test security a concern when OSCE stations are repeated across clerkship rotations?

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Abstract
PURPOSE : To examine the issue of test security when the same stations on an objective structured clinical examination ( OSCE ) are repeated across clerkship rotations . Specifically , is there a significant difference in students ' scores on stations repeated in three or four rotations within a single academic year ? METHOD : The sample consisted of 15 stations in the OSCE given at the end of the third-year surgery clerkship at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine from 1989-90 through 1993-94 . Each station was administered three or four times a year . One-way analyses of variance with contrast coding to test for linear trends were used . Results were considered significant at or below the . 05 level . RESULTS : Only three of the 15 stations showed significant linear trends . A two-part couplet orthopedic station showed a significant decreasing linear trend ( p =. 0001 ). Two stations showed significant increasing linear trends : a general surgery couplet station ( p =. 0004 ) and a plastic surgery station with an essay question ( p =. 0253 ). CONCLUSION : There was no consistent evidence that students scored increasingly higher on OSCE stations repeated throughout the year . Thus , it would appear that a clerkship can repeat OSCE stations within an academic year without risk of a trend toward increasing scores .

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