An experimental assessment carried out in an undergraduate general practice teaching course (OSCE examination)

Professional examinations should be fair, comprehensive, objective, and appropriate to the discipline above all. If at the same time they can be made administratively easier, interesting and in themselves a teaching/learning experience, so much the better. General Practice is a difficult subject to examine in the traditional subjective manner, yet unless students and their courses are assessed then the subject loses credibility and respect in the frenetic run-up to Finals. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination seemed a more appropriate examination than any tried so far and an experiment was mounted to instruct the Liverpool University Medical School Department of General Practice Tutors in the technique and to test several station 'formats'. At this first attempt many snags were found, but some interesting lines of enquiry and further study were opened up. No attempt was made to produce an accurate mark for individual students in this test, although all were given an insight into strong and weak areas. The experiment demonstrated that an OSCE in Primary Care or General Practice is possible and can be organized. The examiners can be taught the technique reasonably quickly and need have no previous experience of formal examinations. A working Health Centre can be used.