title: The first OSCE; does students' experience of performing in public affect their results?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Personal qualities have been shown to affect students' exam results. We studied the effect of experience, and level, of public performance in music, drama, dance, sport, and debate at the time of admission to medical school as a predictor of student achievement in their first objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).
  
  
  METHODS
  A single medical school cohort (n = 265) sitting their first clinical exam in 2011 as third year students were studied. Pre-admission statements made at the time of application were coded for their stated achievements in the level of public performance; participation in each activity was scored 0-3, where 0 was no record, 1 = leisure time activity, 2 = activity at school or local level, 3 = activity at district, regional or national level. These scores were correlated to OSCE results by linear regression and t-test. Comparison was made between the highest scoring students in each area, and students scoring zero by t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a bell shaped distribution in public performance score in this cohort. There was no significant linear regression relationship between OSCE results and overall performance score, or between any subgroups. There was a significant difference between students with high scores in theatre, debate and vocal music areas, grouped together as verbal performance, and students scoring zero in these areas. (p < 0.05, t-test) with an effect size of 0.4.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found modest effects from pre-admission experience of verbal performance on students' scores in the OSCE examination. As these data are taken from students' admission statements, we call into question the received wisdom that such statements are unreliable.
authors.affiliation: Bart's and the London Medical School, London, UK. michchan@live.co.uk.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK. n.d.s.bax@shef.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bax
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK. c.woodley@shef.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Woodley
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK. m.jennings@shef.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. r.nicolson@shef.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Rod
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nicolson
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield Medical School, Sheffield, UK. p.chan@shef.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003099:College Admission Test; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D058013:Test Taking Skills; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult