Hamann, ClausVolkan, KevinFishman, Mary BSilvestri, RonaldSimon, StevenFletcher, Suzanne2011-03-062002Hamann, Claus, Kevin Volkan, Mary B Fishman, Ronald C Silvestri, Steven R Simon, and Suzanne W Fletcher. 2002. How well do second-year students learn physical diagnosis? Observational study of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). BMC Medical Education 2: 1.1472-6920http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4738024Background: Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diagnosis courses. The purpose of this study was to describe student performance on an OSCE in a physical diagnosis course. Methods: Cross-sectional study at Harvard Medical School, 1997–1999, for 489 second-year students. Results: Average total OSCE score was 57% (range 39–75%). Among clinical skills, students scored highest on patient interaction (72%), followed by examination technique (65%), abnormality identification (62%), history-taking (60%), patient presentation (60%), physical examination knowledge (47%), and differential diagnosis (40%) (p < .0001). Among 16 OSCE stations, scores ranged from 70% for arthritis to 29% for calf pain (p < .0001). Teaching sites accounted for larger adjusted differences in station scores, up to 28%, than in skill scores (9%) (p < .0001). Conclusions: Students scored higher on interpersonal and technical skills than on interpretive or integrative skills. Station scores identified specific content that needs improved teaching.en-USJournal Article2011-03-0610.1186/1472-6920-2-1