DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i03.051

Pages: 981-983

The OSPE is a versatile multipurpose evaluative tool that can be utilized to evaluate students in practical assessment. It assesses competency, based on objective testing through direct observation. Aims and objectives were to compare the conventional practical examination (CPE) with OSPE and to plan and implement OSPE as a tool of internal assessment for second MBBS students in pathology. The study was carried out in October 2015, at our institute, after obtaining the Institutional Ethical Committee approval. The study was undertaken for second MBBS students of total 142. The OSPE was planned for 50 marks assigned for practical examination. The OSPE was conducted in two batches, on two consecutive days, using different sets questions for each day. Out of 142 students in the second-year MBBS, 140 students took both the tests – CPE and OSPE. The mean score out of 50 were 32 and 45 for CPE and OSPE respectively. In response to the question related to difficulty level, 119(85%) rated OSPE easier than CPE, 14(10%) rated same as CPE and 7(5%) students were uncertain.