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Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) are used to assess clinical skills. We investigated how exit OSCEs changed in Australian medical schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lead ACCLAiM assessment academic from 12 eligible Australian medical school members of the Australian Collaboration for Clinical Assessment in Medicine (ACCLAiM) received a 45-item semi-structured online questionnaire. All schools (12/12) responded. Exit OSCEs were not used by one school in 2019, and 3/11 schools in 2020. Of eight remaining schools, four reduced station numbers and testing time. The minimum OSCE testing time decreased from 64 min in 2019 to 54 min in 2020. Other modifications included: a completely online 'e-OSCE' (n = 1); hybrid delivery (n = 4); stations using: videos of patient encounters (n = 3), telephone calls (n = 2), skill completion without face-to-face patient encounters (n = 3). The proportion of stations involving physical examination reduced from 33% to 17%. Fewer examiners were required, and university faculty staff formed a higher proportion of examiners. All schools changed their OSCEs in 2020 in response to COVID-19. Modifications varied from reducing station numbers and changing delivery methods to removing OSCE and complete assessment re-structuring. Several innovative methods of OSCE delivery were implemented to preserve OSCE validity and reliability whilst balancing feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: This study explored the attitude towards, and experiences of, injection site examination among injecting drug users in opioid treatment and the potential impact of this routine examination on information disclosure and future injection practices. Methods: A self-complete, anonymous, cross-sectional questionnaire was used with 153 patients recruited from three public clinics in Sydney, Australia. Results: The vast majority (97%) had ever injected in their upper limb, 19% in their leg, 16% in their neck, and 7% in their groin. The majority were ‘happy to have their sites inspected’ (78%), and felt it was an ‘appropriate part of routine examination’ (72%). Seventy-seven percent said they would be more honest about recent injecting, and 25% would inject in other sites if upper limb inspection occurred at every clinical review. Conclusions: The examination of injecting sites can provide useful corroboration of self-reported injecting drug use and an opportunity to offer harm reduction advice. The inspection of injecting sites was acceptable to most patients and should form part of routine clinical reviews. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The short case is a highly artificial scenario, in which the examination candidate is given little or no history and instructed to examine one system or one aspect of a patient and draw conclusions. Despite their artificiality, short cases test clinical skills which senior paediatricians value and consider essential qualities of a competent physician. This article presents some general suggestions on an approach to doing short case examinations., (© 2014 The Author. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health © 2014 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians).)