Kicking the Tires: Enhancing OSCE Preparedness through Strategic Dry Runs and Simulating Extremes

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are a key part of medical education. They test a wide range of clinical skills in a structured way, ensuring students are ready for real-world challenges (Lewis et al., 2017). To make these exams effective, pre-exam practice sessions, called dry runs, are critical (Committee on Simulation, 2016). These sessions help identify problems, improve organization, and better prepare standardized patients (SPs) for student interactions.
This article suggests using a new approach in OSCE dry runs: simulating extreme student performances. These simulations show both excellent and poor examples of clinical skills. This prepares SPs for a wide range of interactions and helps ensure a fair assessment process.