Validity and Reliability of pre-internship Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Shiraz Medical School

Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is one of the most appropriate methods for assessment of clinical skills.Validity and reliability assurance is a mandatory factor for any assessment tool. In Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, medical students’ clinical competences are evaluated by a pre-internship OSCE. This study is designed to examine the validity and reliability of this exam. Validity is the extent to which the test measures what it intends to measure. Reliability refers to the accuracy of measurement and the consistency of test results. Content validity was evaluated by expert opinion about blueprinting and station checklists. To determine the construct validity, station scores correlation with the total OSCE score and inter station correlations were calculated. The inter examiner reliability was assessed by coefficient of correlation. Content validity was established by alignment between the curriculum and the blueprint using expert opinion. Correlation of the station scores with the total OSCE score were positive and statistically significant in all stations except the 16th station (suturing). Inter examiner reliability coefficients of correlations ranged 0.33 – 0.99, with an average of 0.83. Our findings support the assumption that the pre-internship OSCE is valid, reliable and suitable to assess students’ clinical competence. Validity and reliability studies should be performed for all new assessment tools, particularly in high-stakes assessments.