Are Standardized Patients Able to Rate Performance of Psychiatric Residents in the Objective Structured Clinical Examination?

This study aims to compare viewpoints of standardized patients (SPs) and consultant psychiatrists about the performance of volunteer residents in the first Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Iran. OSCE was hold with 9 stations and 8 SPs, in one day with attendance of 22 senior psychiatric residents. In each station two raters independently scored the residents based on a previously prepared checklist. SPs were three females and five males with the mean age of 27 years. In the end, viewpoints of consultant psychi-atrists and SPs on the performance of residents were compared. Beside three stations, no significant correlation between SPs’ and consultants’ opinions could be found in other stations. SPs in the stations with significant correlation had higher level of educa-tion especially in the psychiatry-relevant fields. Despite capabilities of the SPs, it is probably not reason- able to rely on their opinion as raters unless they have higher level of education.