How well do second-year students learn physical diagnosis? Observational study of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)

Table 2 Variables and groups showing the largest differences in OSCE scores

OSCE Score	Variable	Reference		Highest Scoring		Skill / Station	Largest Difference
		Group	Score(%)	Group	Score (%)		(95% C.I.)² %
Total	Student	Dental	51	Medical	57	n.a.³	6 (4, 7)
						Skill
Clinical skills	Student	Dental	45	Medical	54	Patient Presentation	9(6, 12)
	Preceptor Group	Group 4	45	Group 3	53	Patient Presentation	8(4, 12)
	Teaching Site	Site I	40	SiteB	47	Physical Exam Knowledge	7 (3, 10)
	OSCE Day	Day 3	45	Day 2	51	Patient Presentation	6 (3, 9)
	OSCE Year	1999	62	1997	58	History-taking	-4 (-6, -2)
						Station
Stations	Teaching Site	Site I	55	SiteH	83	Thyroid	28 (20–37)
	Student	Dental	46	Student	61	Rectal/Prostate	15 (11–19)
	Preceptor Group	Group 4	32	Group 2	46	Knee	14 (8–20)
	OSCE Day	Day 3	55	Day 1	66	Thyroid	11 (7, 15)
	OSCE Year	1999	60	1998	71	Skin	11 (8, 13)

We used MANOVA for comparisons among the predictor variables and multiple dependent variables. ¹Adjusted score difference denotes adjusted score difference between the highest scoring group and the reference group means. All differences were significant at p <= .001. ²C.I. denotes confidence interval. ³n.a. denotes not applicable.

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