title: Validity evidence for medical school OSCEs: associations with USMLE® step assessments.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recently, there has been a surge in the use of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) at medical schools around the world, and with this growth has come the concomitant need to validate such assessments.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The current study examined the associations between student performance on several school-level clinical skills and knowledge assessments, including two OSCEs, the National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME) Subject Examinations, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) and Step 3 assessments.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 806 medical students from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. We conducted Pearson correlation analysis as well as stepwise multiple linear regression modeling to examine the strength of associations between students' performance on 2nd- and 3rd-year OSCEs and their two Step 2 CS component scores and Step 3 scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive associations were found between the OSCE variables and the USMLE scores; in particular, student performance on both the 2nd- and 3rd-year OSCEs was more strongly associated with the two Step 2 CS component scores than with Step 3 scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings, although preliminary, provide some predictive validity evidence for the use of OSCEs in determining readiness of medical students for clinical practice and licensure.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Medicine , Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences , Bethesda , Maryland , USA 
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Kimberly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Swygert
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Durning
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saguil
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Gilliland
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cruess
authors.forename: Kent J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: DeZee
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: LaRochelle
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Artino
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE) step assessment; objective structured clinical examination (OSCE); validity