THE INTEGRATION OF CHILD-PSYCHIATRY INTO A PSYCHIATRY CLERKSHIP OSCE

Objective: To integrate child psychiatry into a psychiatry clerkship O bjective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Method: Child psychia try OSCE stations were designed to evaluate clerks' skills in the iden tification of 4 common conditions. Child psychiatrists wrote case scen arios and checklists and supported standardized patient (SP) training for these stations. A bank of 4 child psychiatry OSCE stations is now available for use in the psychiatry OSCE. Child psychiatry faculty hav e been trained as examiners for ongoing administration of this OSCE. R esults: This bank of child psychiatry OSCE stations has examined 402 c lerks. Mean student scores for content were 68% to 86% and for process were 69% to 76%. Station reliability and examiner feedback were accep table. Conclusions: Child psychiatry has been successfully integrated into a psychiatry clerkship OSCE. Although the commitment in terms of monetary and faculty costs has been considerable, the accompanying edu cational benefits of such integration warranted this expense.