Perception and Performance of Medical Students in Objective Structured Practical Examination and Viva Voce

Background: The assessment of laboratory skills in the subject of Physiology is examined by Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) and Viva Voce (VV). The performance of students as well as their opinion about the assessment tools is dissimilar. The objective of this study was to compare OSPE and VV in terms of perception and scores acquired by students. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted on 100 students of 1 year MBBS at Bahria University Medical & Dental College, Karachi from December 2009 to September 2010 in which perception and performance of students in OSPE and VV after completion of each (consecutive) module of Cell Biology, Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular systems were assessed. Performance of students was grouped on the basis of secured marks into 3 categories, fail (less than 50%), pass (50–70%), and distinction (>70%). A closed ended questionnaire analysed students’ responses on both assessment tools about subject content, given time, difficulty level and influence by mood of examiners. Results: In all modules, 90–92% of distinctions were acquired with the help of OSPE compared to 5–10% by VV (p<0.0001). Pass percentage was acquired more by VV compared to OSPE (p<0.0001). Perception of OSPE revealed it to be a focused system of examination by 86 (92%) students, 76 (82%) were satisfied with allotted time and 75 (81%) found it easy to attempt. VV was considered to be influenced by mood of examiners by 84 (90%) students while 73 (78%) found it to be stressful. Conclusion: Students secured significantly higher in OSPE, described it as an easy, uniform, fair, un-stressful and un-biased method of examination and recommended its continuation as an assessment tool for practical examination system.