Perceptions of students, professors, and simulated patients with a periodontology OSCE station in dentistry

Abstract

Background

The OSCE, or objective structured clinical examination, is a practical assessment used worldwide to evaluate students' competencies in health science degrees. It consists of stations, where different clinical situations can be replicated. Sometimes, the settings can introduce actors who perform the role of standardised patients. This study is aimed to determine the perception of students, teachers, and actresses involved in a periodontology OSCE station with a standardised patient.

Methods

In April 2023, 112 fifth-year dentistry students, 6 teachers, and 21 actresses participated in the study. The teachers responsible for the station design created three online questionnaires, distributed to all participants. The questionnaires consisted of a perception survey about the periodontology OSCE station in order to find out teachers, students and actresses` opinions about the station. The questions were divided by general demographics data (age, gender, and qualifications), 5 specific questions about the periodontology station and one open-ended question to express any consideration not mentioned previously.

Results

The results showed that most students handled the patient situation well (58.03%), found it realistic (83.92%), and appreciated the presence of a standardised patient (57.14%). Similarly, the teachers were satisfied (66.66%) or very satisfied (33.33%) with the exam, while the standardised patients generally felt satisfied (71.42%) or very satisfied (19.04%) with their role. Some patients experienced difficulties with evaluating and interpreting the checklist (57.14%).

Discussion

Overall, the organisation, explanations, and information provided for the stations were deemed accurate and satisfactory.