Introduction
The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is an assessment format developed by Harden to evaluate the clinical competencies of medical students. Our university has been using this assessment in dentistry for the past 8 years, incorporating Standarized patients (SPs) into its stations. Proper training of SPs is essential to ensure objectivity. To date, no study has determined the validity of the student evaluations provided by SPs. The aim of this study was to assess the level of agreement between professors and SPs when evaluating the periodontics station of the OSCE during the 2022/2023 academic year in dental students.
Material and methods
The SPs evaluated the students' responses after completing the periodontics station using an 18-question rubric. Meanwhile, the assigned professors from a hidden control room assessed the students using the same checklist. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and significance tests. Quantitative variables were tested for normality using the Shapiro–Wilk test and Interobserver agreement for categorical variables with Cohen's kappa coefficient. A significance level of 0.05 was adopted.
Results
A total of 210 students were evaluated. The correlation between the assessments of the SPs and professors was poor for most of the items, with good correlation for diagnosis; statement relating the condition to stress and anxiety; and informed consent.
Conclusions
SP evaluations of dental students’ OSCEs do not correlate well with those of their professors despite efforts to educate these SPs.
