OSPE Reflection

OSPE is the Objective Structured Practical Examination and is used as an assessment tool to evaluate student's performance (Harden et al., 1975; Ananthakrishnan  N., 1993). My first OSPE as a postgraduate student left me with positive and negative feelings.

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Personally, I have been experiencing a high level of anxiety before any form of evaluation since a very young age, but despite the chronicity of the situation, the severity of the symptoms remain similar.  Mocking the OSPE exam, one month before the actual examination, significantly minimized my stress level.

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On the day of the OSPE, all the students were waiting in a room, keeping a distance from each other because of the COVID-19 guidance. The waiting made the process less tolerable for me. Listening to others expressing their fears and anxiety worsen my condition. Even though it is shown, that it is beneficial for people in threatening situations to affiliate with others who are experiencing similar emotions (Townsend et al., 2014), it had a negative impact on me.

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My first assessment was the canine one, an hour later the equine one would follow. After finishing my first exam I felt that I have passed as I managed to correct some of the previous mistakes I did at the OSPE mock. As the time was passing, I realized that the dog stumbled on a small branch while trotting, and this could be a failure. During the equine assessment, I was more relaxed as I had passed on the mock exam but because of my little experience with horses, I was still nervous. The most unpleasant moment was when I realized I could not focus on reading the task on the paper. I knew I had to present the horse but I thought I didn’t read it on the task so I omitted this part. I also asked my handler to remain on the other side of the horse which I knew was wrong. I knew I had failed, and I knew why, stress had overwhelmed me.

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Fortunately, I have two more attempts for the OSPE and as a person with a positive attitude, I keep the good outcome of this first experience which is the fact that I now feel more ready for my next attempt in five months. My goal is to manage my exam anxiety by then by practicing more often the OSPE routine.

 

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REFERENCES:

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Harden, R.M., Stevenson, M., Downie, W.W., Wilson, G.M., 1975. Assessment of clinical competence using the objective structured examination. Br Med J 1, 447–451.

 

Ananthakrishnan N. Objective structured clinical/practical examination (OSCE/OSPE). J Postgrad Med 1993;39:82

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Townsend, S., Kim, H., Mesquita, B., 2014. Are you feeling what I’m feeling? Emotional similarity buffers stress. Social Psychology and Personality Science 5, 526–533. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613511499