Background/Purpose: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are based on various starting clinical scenarios conducted in a simulated environment that allow for the standardized assessment of medical students’ competencies, recently introduced in France. Our aim was to evaluate expectations and perceptions of medical students at graduating level regarding this new method of clinical education.

Methods: Medical students participated in a weekly training OSCE station during their Clinical Immunology rotation. A questionnaire assessing expectations and perceptions regarding this new teaching method during clinical placements was distributed to medical students who completed a rotation in the Department of Clinical Immunology between January 2024 and January 2025. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions estimated on a Likert scale or open-ended written response. Responses were analyzed using the Chi-squared test for qualitative variables and the Wilcoxon test for ordinal variables.

Results: Over their 10-week clinical immunology rotation, 10 training OSCE stations were offered to medical students, covering various initial clinical scenarios relevant to clinical immunology: single and multiple lymphadenopathy, erythema nodosum, dyspnea, hyperthermia, headaches, weight loss, joint pain, visual disturbances, discoloration of the extremities, purpura, corticosteroid prescription, writing a prescription, elevated CRP, leukocyte abnormalities, and calcium metabolism disorders. In total, 63 consecutive medical students completed the questionnaire. The clinical scenarios addressed in the OSCE stations were rated as highly relevant to their curriculum, receiving a Likert score ≥ 4/5 from 59 students (93%), including 45 (71%) who gave a score of 5/5 and 14 (22%) a score of 4/5. The scenarios were considered better suited for reinforcing theoretical rather than practical training, with 45 students (71%) rating them 5/5 for theoretical consolidation, versus 35 (56%) for practical consolidation. Medical students at graduating level expressed a greater demand for more training OSCEs, with a median of one session per week (p = 0.002). The training OSCEs in clinical immunology were rated as highly useful for future clinical practice by 44 students (70%) with a score of 5/5 and by 13 students (21%) with a score of 4/5 on the Likert scale, with no significant difference between academic years (p=0.7). Among open-ended responses, 13 sixth-year students (54%) mentioned stress as the main difficulty encountered with this type of teaching, compared to 9 fifth-year students (23%) (p = 0.012). Difficulties related to time constraints (p > 0.9), organization (p > 0.9), and knowledge application (p > 0.7) were similar between the different academic years.

Conclusion: Over 90% of medical students acknowledged the high usefulness of training OSCEs during clinical immunology rotations for their future clinical practice. Training OSCEs were associated with increased performance anxiety especially when students are at graduating level.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/training-objective-structured-clinical-examinations-in-a-clinical-immunology-department-expectations-and-perceptions-of-medical-students-at-graduating-level/