Attitude of Iranian Psychiatry Residents toward Psychiatric Objective Structured Clinical Examination

Few reports are available regarding the use of Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for the evaluation of psy-chiatry residents. Assessing their attitudes towards this method of testing has been the aim of this study. Forty psychiatry residents from all universities in Iran who were selected on a stratified sampling method participated in the third comprehensive pilot OSCE in Iran. After the exam, viewpoints were canvassed using a questionnaire and also face to face interview. Data were then analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Ninety percent of residents believed that the simulations and scenarios were quite realistic and 97.5% considered the scenarios reflective of clinical situations they usually experience. Most of the residents believed also such an examination could discriminate com-petent and incompetent residents successfully. Eighty percent of the residents believed that OSCE is superior than the oral board examina-tion and 87.5% felt they would like the experience to be a formative part of their residency training. The oral or practical board examination can be replaced by OSCE.