Student Dietitians' Perceptions and Experiences of Objective Structured Clinical Examination to Assess Communication Skills.

introductionCommunication skills are essential to dietetic practice and are therefore embedded in dietetics curricula worldwide. Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) are often used to teach and assess communication skills, yet student dietitians' experiences remain underexplored. The aim of this study was to evaluate student dietitians' perceptions and experiences of OSCEs to assess communication skills.

methodsStudent dietitians participated in OSCEs for the assessment of communication skills before the first of two substantial periods of practice-based learning. These consisted of two or three OSCE stations reflecting in-patient and out-patient dietetic scenarios. A questionnaire survey measuring students' perceptions and experiences of the OSCE was conducted. The survey measured five domains: (1) preparedness; (2) environment and processes; (3) fairness; (4) authenticity; and (5) assessment for learning, with responses recorded on a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree).

resultsThe complete case analysis consisted of 130 student dietitians over four academic years. In general student dietitians had highly positive experiences of the OSCEs, particularly in relation to assessment of learning (83.3% positive experience score) and authenticity (80% positive experience score). Fairness resulted in the lowest positive experience score (50%). Younger students reported lower positive experiences of preparedness (60%) compared with older students (80%) (p = 0.045).

conclusionsStudent dietitians have generally positive perceptions and experiences of OSCEs for the assessment of communication skills, but this is not universal for all domains of their experience. There is a need for strategies that enhance preparedness and reduce anxiety in relation to OSCEs in dietetics.