APPLICABILITY OF THE OSCE – STRUCTURED CLINICAL ASSESSMENT METHOD IN THE DENTISTRY COURSE

Abstract

One of the challenges in teaching Dentistry is creating pedagogical strategies based on the competencies students need to acquire, linking cognitive, attitudinal, and procedural development. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is an assessment tool based on the principles of objectivity and standardization, in which candidates go through a series of stations, in a circuit, to evaluate their professional performance in a simulated environment. This assessment method is based on clinical competencies, skills, and attitudes acquired, and in this approach, both learning and evaluation should begin with the analysis of situations and the student's attitude, encompassing knowledge, the ability to perform tasks, critical thinking, professional and ethical conduct, human relations, changes in attitude, and even independence in knowledge production. The OSCE is used in the Dentistry program for undergraduate students, with the goal of evaluating the competencies of students in the clinical phase. As part of a structured evaluation method to assess cognitive and formative competencies in the Integrated Clinic courses, students undergo clinical assessments covering various content areas in an integrated manner. The subjects addressed in the OSCE include Operative Dentistry, Periodontics, Endodontics, Prosthodontics, Radiology, Biosafety, Anesthesiology, Oral Diagnosis, and Cariology. The OSCE in the Dentistry program at PUC Minas is organized into three stages: the first consists of the presentation of the problem; the second presents the practical test stations, where the student is exposed to problem-based situations to assess whether they demonstrate the necessary skills and competencies for patient care; and the third stage consists of feedback, where professors point out the main errors made so that the student can reflect on their performance and work to overcome their shortcomings. It is important for professors to identify these difficulties and suggest strategies to strengthen teaching throughout the semester, so students can increasingly become confident and competent in their cognitive and formative abilities. The OSCE applied in the Integrated Clinic course enabled the testing of a wide range of tasks and skills aligned with the learning objectives described in the course syllabus. Through this practice, students are required to demonstrate a combination of skills in medical history-taking, physical examination, communication, treatment planning, technical procedures, and other aspects of patient care. Thus, with the implementation of this active teaching and learning methodology, it becomes possible to identify gaps in students’ clinical skills and address these deficiencies. Additionally, this evaluation allows students to reflect on their performance through immediate feedback on their mistakes and successes. This objective method of clinical assessment is important in the student training process, as it eliminates subjectivity bias in evaluation and promotes learning with clinical, humanistic, professional, and ethical training by integrating theoretical knowledge with the resolution of real clinical problems. Therefore, the OSCE enables students to visualize health education while deepening their knowledge through a focus on problematization-reflection-action.