title: Validation of a computer based objective structured clinical examination in the assessment of undergraduate dermatology courses.
abstract: Many teaching centers have now adopted objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as an assessment method for undergraduate dermatology courses. A modification of the standard OSCE in dermatology is computer based or electronic OSCE (eOSCE). We attempted to validate the use of a computer-based OSCE in dermatology in a group of fifth year medical students. The scores of the students in the computer-based OSCE showed a strong positive correlation with the scores on the clinical presentation (Pearson's co-efficient - 0.923, P value <0.000, significant at the 0.01 level) and a good correlation with overall scores of the student (Pearson's co-efficient - 0.728, P value <0.000, significant at the 0.01 level), indicating that this is a reliable method for assessment in dermatology. Generally, the students' feedback regarding the methods was positive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Feroze
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kaliyadan
authors.forename: Abdul Sattar
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuruvilla
authors.forename: Kaberi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Feroze
mesh_terms: D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000592:standards*; D003880:Dermatology / Q000193:education*; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013337:Students, Medical