Objective structured teaching examination (OSTE): an underused tool developed to assess clinical teaching skills. A narrative review of the literature

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: There are plenty of options for evaluating medical students and medical residents’ clinical skills. Objective structured clinical evaluations (OSCEs) have emerged as a powerful and reliable tool for assessing multiple cognition domains of clinical expertise. In the same way as OSCEs have emerged to assess clinical skills, objective structured teaching evaluations (OSTEs) have come to light as promising and unbiased interventions for evaluating the act of clinical teaching. DESIGN AND SETTING: Narrative review developed at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil. METHODS: We searched the literature regarding OSTEs using the MEDLINE (via PubMed) and LILACS (viaBiblioteca Virtual em Saude) databases. The SciELO library was also searched for Brazilian papers. Systematic reviews, reviews and randomized controlled trials specifically assessing how OSTEs performed in relation to development of academic staff and medical residents were then selected. RESULTS: Our search retrieved 178 papers, of which 40 were considered eligible for intensive review. Most of the studies selected reported positive effects from OSTE activities. However, there was little quantitative data to gauge the impact of OSTEs on improvement of teaching skills. CONCLUSIONS: Considering that OSCEs have become a widely used tool for assessing medical students’ and residents’ clinical skills, it is high time to incorporate OSTEs for evaluating teaching skills in Brazil. Encouraging data to support implementation of this assessment tool in this country is available from abroad. The net benefit from this would possibly encompass medical students, residents and academic staff, through bringing awareness about the importance of excelling in teaching skills.