Standard setting methods in objective structured clinical examination (OSCE): A comparative study of five methods

IntroductionMedical schools have continually emphasized the importance of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) in assessments to ensure competency and patient safety (1).Medical educationists have named OSCE one of the most reliable, practical, and effective ways of assessing competency in all three domains: knowledge, clinical skills, and affective domain.This is because OSCE tests practical skills and the underlying cognitive and affective domains (2).Though deemed high stakes, the use of OSCE in medical schools is very diverse, necessitating standard-setting practices to ensure the validity and reliability of this examination method (3).The standard setting determines the remarkable score that indicates the cut-off point differentiating competent students from the lesser competent ones (3).Hence,