title: Reliability of OSTE in the health professions education exit examination of college of physicians and surgeons, Pakistan: a psychometric analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine reliability and validity of objectively structured teaching examination (OSTE) and the difference in the examination scores of two consecutive Health Professions Education batches.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analytical study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, Karachi, from November 2011 to April 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  The OSTEs were designed on the basis of examination blueprints. Scores of participants of two consecutive years (group-I n = 14, group-II n = 15) were analyzed by using SPSS version 16. Mean + SD was computed and overall means were compared by t test. Reliability was determined by Cronbach's a coefficient. Standard error of measurement (SEM) was computed for precision of scores. OSTE stations were not uni-dimensional, factor analysis including varimax rotation was performed. For convergent validity (Pearson correlations) was determined between scores of OSTE, lectures delivered and workshops conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall mean score was 7.64 + 0.65 in group-I and 7.33 ± 1.03 in group-II (p = 0.429), (group-I SEM = 0.35 and group-II, SEM = 0.48). Factor analysis yielded four factors in group-I and five factors in group-II with Eigenvalues > 1. The Pearson's correlation of average scores of OSTE and lecture was significant for group-I (r = 0.61, p 0.019), and insignificant for group-II (r = 0.46, p = 0.08). Correlation between OSTE and workshops conducted was insignificant in group-I (r = 0.51, p = 0.057) and significant in group-II (r = 0.53, p = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OSTE is a reliable, valid assessment tool for discerning competency among learners of HPE program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Sciences, Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Tahmeena
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D010820:Physicians; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*