The Reliability,Validity and Evaluation of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Podiatry (Chiropody)

The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), initially developed for use in undergraduate medical training, has been adapted for use for the assessment of clinical skills in podiatry (chiropody) students. The introduction of this system of examination was accompanied by a 12‐month evaluation programme where issues of validity, repeatability, and stability of student performance over time were considered. The evaluation programme revealed relatively low levels of repeatability, high levels of construct and criterion validity, and good stability, of performance over time. Participating students were also surveyed for their level of acceptance of this format of clinical examination. Students demonstrated an overwhelming acceptance and support of the OSCE.