title: Using TOSCE (Team Objective Structured Clinical Examination) in the second national medical sciences olympiad in Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Second National Medical Sciences Olympiad was done in Shiraz in August 2010 with aim of indentifying scientifically talented individuals, motivating students and orienting extracurricular activities. This Olympiad was done in 3 areas, basic sciences, clinical sciences and management. In clinical sciences, we used TOSCE (Team Objective Structured Clinical Examination). In this article we report the details of this exam and participants' satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  This Olympiad in Clinical Medical Sciences was held in 2 levels: Individual and team. In the team stage, 9 teams from 9 universities participated. We used TOSCE for measuring clinical competency of teams. Each team consisted of 3 students. We designed 12 stations based on emergency medicine in medical and surgical fields. The time considered for each station was 15 min, after doing this exam the view of students was measured using a valid and reliable questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the students believed that TOSCE was a useful examination for measuring competency. More than 50% of students reported that success in this exam needs clinical competency, team work and problem solving ability. Nearly, half (48.1%) of students believed that 15 min is not enough for each station and they need more time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study showed that this kind of exam is useful for measuring clinical competency from students' viewpoint.
authors.affiliation: Education Development and Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
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authors.forename: Javad
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authors.lastname: Kojuri
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authors.forename: Ali Arhami Doolat
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authors.lastname: Abadi
authors.forename: Nezar Ali
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authors.forename: Mohsen
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authors.lastname: Vakili
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authors.lastname: Sadat
authors.forename: Roghaye
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authors.lastname: Akbari
authors.forename: Bita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Omidvar
authors.forename: Afshin
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authors.lastname: Shafaghi
authors.forename: Alireza
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authors.lastname: Monajemi
authors.forename: Kamran Soltani
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keywords: Medical students; TOSCE; olympiad