Senior medical students as peer examiners in an OSCE

Background: At Sydney Medical School, we have recently introduced a practice Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) where our junior medical students are assessed by the senior peers. Aim: We sought to evaluate the efficacy of the programme. Methods: The study took place in 2010 and 2011, with two cohorts of final-year students participating. A total of 40/98 (41%) of final-year students chose to participate as examiners. Following the completion of standardised marking sheets by the student examiners, the marking sheets were reviewed by a senior academic examiner, and the 'global' mark was adjusted in accordance with the marking criteria. Student examiners also completed an open and closed-ended questionnaire regarding their experience as an examiner. A total of 105/115 (91%) of year 2 medical students were examined in the OSCE over the two-year period. Results: The senior academic changed a total of 94 'global' marks, reducing the majority (55%) from 'Satisfactory' to 'Borderline'; 12% were reduced from 'Satisfactory' to 'Not Satisfactory' and 33% from 'Borderline' to 'Not Satisfactory'. Student questionnaire results showed a high level of engagement with their examiner experience overall, and it was regarded as a useful learning experience. Conclusion: Student examiners found peer assessment to be a very useful learning activity. However, our students need further training in how to globally assess a fellow student's overall performance objectively and to provide accurate feedback.