CoMeD-OSCE

All students take a clinical practical examination (OSCE) of their communicative competence at the end of the 4th year of study. The CoMeD OSCE consists of two stations. The subject-specific medical exam topics focus on the content taught in the 4th year of study in the Musculoskeletal and Head and Nervous System study blocks.

The required knowledge for the application of the communicative conversation skills results from all taught contents in the area of communication of the 1st to 4th year of study (basics of communication, anamnesis, clarification/consultation conversation, dealing with emotions/NURSE model and breaking bad news/SPIKES model, WWSZ technique).

Thematically, the content on conversation skills was covered in the study blocks "musculoskeletal system" (topic: delivering bad news) and "head and nervous system" (topics: depression, PTSD, somatoform disorder).

Thematically, the two OSCE stations will include the topics of dealing with difficult emotions using depression as an example (anamnesis, addressing emotions, communicating findings, advising on treatment strategy - in the sense of basic care) and rheumatism (breaking bad news, delivering bad news, dealing with emotions, treatment strategy). The standard of evaluation is the level of knowledge at the end of the 4th year of study.

In the examination interview, all conversation skills that have been taught by the end of the 4th year of study via the learning objectives are relevant. Both examination stations focus on testing and assessing communicative competencies. In addition to the teaching units, learning materials and good practice videos are provided online (in ILIAS), as well as a sample on the possible examination case (case vignette).

Students who have completed all study blocks of the 4th study year (abdomen, musculoskeletal system, head and nervous system, thorax) at the end of the current semester must participate in this examination; completion of these study blocks is a prerequisite for the examination.

Before the station, you will receive information about the clinical case and the task you have to complete. You will have two minutes to read. Following this, the actual duration of the examination is eight minutes per station. As the examinee, you will interact with specifically trained actresses who have been standardized in their role portrayal. The respective communicative demands on the examinee are embedded in different medical contexts. Immediately afterwards, you will receive a three-minute oral feedback on your interview from the examiner. However, this is not a notification of results. For reasons of internal quality assurance (examiner calibration, monitoring of interrater reliability, and standardization of the acting patients) and for individual examination debriefing, the examination interviews are recorded on video, provided that you have given your informed consent prior to the examination. Thus, the recording is expressly subject to voluntariness, data protection and confidentiality and can only be viewed by examiners and the individual students. Upon request, we offer to analyze your personal exam video together with teachers in a detailed discussion after the CoMeD-OSCE in order to reflect on your personal interviewing skills. Due to the high personnel expenditure, this is only possible in the course of the following semester and not immediately after the exam!

You will receive explanatory information on data protection and confidentiality with regard to the video recordings as well as on your options for differentiated consent or refusal to the individual purposes of use of the recordings within the framework of the declaration of consent by e-mail in the run-up to the examination.

In order to meet the required test quality criteria, the skills demonstrated are only rated by examiners who are appropriately trained and calibrated in advance. The rating itself is based on a standardized and validated global rating instrument. This means that the dynamics of the entire course of the conversation are evaluated, taking into account the patient's reaction, and not the processing of individual checklist items. Also, rote reproduction of the good practice videos is not purposeful, as these only represent possible options for conducting the conversation.

To pass the exam, you must achieve a total of at least 60 percent of the possible total score in both stations. The exam is considered a "pass" or "fail"; no grades are given. Successful completion of the CoMeD-OSCE is required to receive the Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy Specialty Certificate of Achievement.

If you do not pass, you will have the opportunity to retake the exam in the following semester.

Important:
In case of failure of the CoMeD-OSCE, only two retakes are possible for students of the model program.

If you have additional needs to practice conversation techniques, we offer additional training to improve your communication skills. Please contact Heiko Schmitz for this.

The dates for free practice of conversational situations with acting patient:in and were sent to you individually by email from Ms. Bergedick on 11/23/2020 and published in ILIAS.

The practice dates are not a special exam preparation, but are intended for students who feel unsure about how to conduct a conversation. The same content and exercises are taught as in the CoMeD courses. The practice sessions are an additional training opportunity with limited capacity and are independent of the OSCE exam.

Registration for free practice is only possible if you have already attended the CoMeD courses in preparation, as the course content is assumed and not repeated during practice.

Due to the pandemic, the OSCE information event may not take place in presence at the moment. Therefore, please refer to the set of slides for the information event in the CoMeD learning folder in ILIAS and the video recording of the information event from the winter semester 2018/19 stored there. There you will find further information on the content, procedure, assessment and regulations, the contents apply unchanged. If you have any questions, please contact Heiko Schmitz by e-mail.

The CoMeD-OSCE will take place in the winter semester 2020/21 from Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 16 to Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Medical Core Competencies Training Center in the basement of the MNR Clinic (Building 13.53).

Your personal exam time slot will be posted in ILIAS in the CoMeD learning folder in the tentative exam schedule approximately 3 weeks prior to the exam. Earlier publication is not possible due to various deadlines.

Since minor changes may still occur, please check your exam time in the final schedule again immediately before the start of the exam week.

If, despite taking into account the known exam dates, there are collisions with other exams in semester week 16, please contact Heiko Schmitz immediately after publication of the CoMeD OSCE dates. Otherwise, a subsequent change of the OSCE exam date cannot be guaranteed.

Please wait 25 minutes before the start of your exam in front of the entrance corridor of the training center, you will be picked up there. Please be on time so that registration and exam instructions in room 9/10 can be conducted in a quiet atmosphere! Please bring a white coat and your student ID and ID card - and your own watch if you need it.

Note regarding the pandemic situation/hygiene conditions.

Please bring your own pen.
Info on hygiene regulations will be sent to you by separate email shortly before the exam due to the dynamic situation.

If you do not show up for your regular examination date, please notify Heiko Schmitz by e-mail so that your absence from the examination is known. In addition, please send a medical certificate to the Office of the Dean of Studies as proof of the reason for your inability to attend. If this is not submitted by the deadline, the exam must be counted as a failed attempt and thus as not passed.

If you were not able to take the exam on your regular date and have to make it up in one of the following semesters, you must register for it in HIS-LSF on your own initiative in due time. Registration is possible until five weeks before the first examination date at the latest (winter semester 2020/21: 11.01.2021).

If you have already taken the CoMeD-OSCE exam at an earlier point in time and have to repeat it due to failure, please register for the exam in HIS-LSF.

The registration there also applies to students who take the exam outside of the 4th year of study, e.g. after a semester abroad, a semester off, or a withdrawal from the exam due to illness.

Students who wish to take the Second Section of the Medical Examination after the current semester and who are only missing two certificates of achievement for registration have the right to a timely make-up or repeat examination. This retake or repeat examination is offered in such a way that, if successfully taken, the missing performance record can be submitted to the State Examination Office in a timely manner.

The make-up or repeat examination date - only for students who meet the above conditions - will take place on 08.03.2021 in the morning.

The CoMeD-OSCE examination is scheduled again in the summer semester 2021 for semester week 16 (end of July 2021).