---
title: "Running a virtual or hybrid OSCE: platform, roles, security and contingencies"
description: "How to run a virtual or hybrid OSCE: a video room and concierge per station, timing without a bell, off-campus security, recording and backups."
canonical: https://studydrome.com/docs/osce/delivery/virtual-and-hybrid-osces/
updated: 2026-10-09
---

# Running a virtual or hybrid OSCE: platform, roles, security and contingencies

How to run a virtual or hybrid OSCE: a video room and concierge per station, timing without a bell, off-campus security, recording and backups.

A virtual OSCE moves each station into a video room and replaces the bell with a host who moves candidates between rooms. The evaluation from three Australian schools that ran it describes six to eight stations of eight to twelve minutes, with a concierge managing each station's room. Their advice was to invest in staff training and planning rather than in technology. This page is the plan. What the format can and cannot assess is on the [variants page](/docs/osce/foundations/osce-variants/): about half the skill range, with physical examination and procedures the half it loses.

## How is a virtual circuit built?

Each station is a video room with a fixed examiner and a fixed simulated patient. Candidates move between rooms in the same order as on a physical circuit. The moving is done by staff, not by candidates clicking links. The table maps the physical roles onto their virtual equivalents.

| On a physical circuit | In a virtual OSCE |
| --- | --- |
| Station room | One video room per station, open for the whole session |
| Doorway sheet and reading time | The candidate brief shown on screen in a waiting room, for the same reading time |
| Bell | The host's clock; the concierge ends the encounter on time |
| Marshal | A concierge per station who admits the candidate, watches the clock, and moves them on |
| Holding room | A waiting room where candidates sit with cameras on before their first station |
| Quarantine | A closing room where finished candidates stay until the later cohort has started |
| Floor manager | A host who runs the timetable and holds the incident log |
| Spare equipment | A technical support desk with a phone line and the platform's admin rights |

The concierge is the role that makes the format work. One person per station, for the whole session, does nothing but admit, time, and move. A school that asks the examiner to do it as well has given the examiner a second job during the encounter.

## How is timing kept without a bell?

The host uses a single timetable for all rooms. Each slot has a fixed start, and the concierges start their clocks together. Reading time happens in the waiting room, with the brief on screen. The encounter ends when the concierge says so, not when the candidate finishes. A candidate who arrives late at a room loses the time. The [circuit planning page](/docs/osce/delivery/circuit-planning/) explains why one lap has one clock.

Slots are longer than in person. Moving a candidate between rooms takes a minute, and a connection check at each door takes another. The Australian schools ran stations of eight to twelve minutes. Plan the slot at the station time plus two minutes of movement, and the lap at the slot times the station count.

## How is the exam kept secure?

Security is weaker when candidates are off campus, and the evaluation reflects that. Five controls limit the loss.

1. **A single device with the camera on.** The candidate joins from one device, shows the room at the start, and keeps the camera on for the whole circuit. A second screen or a phone in view ends the encounter.
2. **The candidate's name and face are checked at the door.** The concierge compares the person on screen with the candidate list and a photo. This is the same check a marshal does at registration.
3. **No content leaves the room.** Briefs are shown on screen, not sent as files. Screen sharing is off for candidates. Recording is the school's, not the candidate's.
4. **Quarantine still applies.** Finished candidates stay in the closing room, cameras on, until the later cohort has started. The [security page](/docs/osce/delivery/security-and-quarantine/) covers why.
5. **The briefing states the rules.** Candidates are told in advance what the camera must show, what ends an encounter, and what the school's regulations say about sharing content.

None of this makes a home as secure as a locked station room. A summative exam that depends on the candidate being alone is a decision the [regulations page](/docs/osce/planning/regulations-boards-and-appeals/) and the school's board make with that limit in view.

## Should the encounters be recorded?

The Australian evaluation found that recordings supported appeals. A recorded encounter refutes the claim that the connection failed, that the examiner was absent, or that the patient went off script. Recording requires consent from candidates, examiners, and simulated patients, a retention period, and a storage rule. The [consent page](/docs/osce/planning/consent-recording-and-data-protection/) sets those out. Record every room or none: a partial record is a fairness problem of its own.

## What goes in the contingency plan?

The [contingency register](/docs/osce/delivery/incidents-and-contingencies/) gains three rows for a virtual exam.

- **A candidate's connection drops.** The concierge notes the time. If the candidate returns within a set number of minutes, the encounter resumes with the time lost added back. If not, the candidate takes that station at the end of the lap. The host decides; the log records the times.
- **A station's room fails.** The examiner and patient move to a spare room, and the concierge redirects candidates. The station pauses for at most one slot.
- **The platform fails.** A threshold, agreed in advance, at which the host abandons the session: for example, more than two rooms down for more than one slot. Candidates sit again on a new date with new stations.

Each threshold is a number written down before the day. A host deciding on the day whether three minutes of dropout is too many has no defensible answer.

## How does a hybrid exam run?

A hybrid OSCE runs the history and communication stations by video and the examination and procedure stations in person, usually on a smaller circuit. It needs two run-sheets, two contingency plans and two sets of staff. The question it raises is comparability. A history station taken by video is not the same station as the same case in person. The [quality section](/docs/osce/quality/) covers the check across modes. The scores should not be pooled without evidence that they behave similarly, and the plan records the mode for each score so that the check is possible.

## Rehearsal

The one item the evaluation stresses: rehearse the circuit with staff before the day. Every concierge moves a colleague through their room. Every examiner opens the checklist in the room they will use. The host runs one full lap on the clock. A rehearsal of one lap finds the room that was set up with the wrong link, the examiner whose camera does not work, and the brief that cannot be read on a phone. It finds them the day before, rather than at the first slot.

## Frequently asked questions

### How does a virtual OSCE work?

Each station is a video room with a fixed examiner and patient. A concierge per station admits the candidate, keeps time, and moves them on. A host runs one timetable for all rooms. Finished candidates wait in a closing room until the next cohort has started.

### What is a concierge in a virtual OSCE?

The staff member who runs the video room at one station for the entire session. They check the candidate at the door, start and stop the clock, and move the candidate to the next room. The Australian schools that ran virtual OSCEs used one per station.

### How long should a virtual OSCE station be?

The same as in person, plus about 2 minutes to move between rooms and a connection check. The Australian schools ran stations of eight to twelve minutes, in circuits of six to eight.

### Should a virtual OSCE be recorded?

Yes, if consent, retention, and storage are in place. Recordings supported appeals in the Australian evaluation. Record every room or none.

### What happens if a candidate's connection drops in a virtual OSCE?

The concierge notes the time. If the candidate is back within the agreed limit, the encounter resumes with the lost time added. If not, the station is taken at the end of the lap. The host decides and the log records it.

## Sources

**Sources**

1. [Saad SL, Richmond C, Jones K, Schlipalius M, Rienits H, Malau-Aduli BS. Virtual OSCE delivery and quality assurance during a pandemic: implications for the future](https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.844884) (Frontiers in Medicine, 2022)
2. [Chan SCC, Choa G, Kelly J, Maru D, Rashid MA. Implementation of virtual OSCE in health professions education: a systematic review](https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15089) (Medical Education, 2023)
3. [Khan KZ, Gaunt K, Ramachandran S, Pushkar P. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): AMEE Guide No. 81. Part II: organisation and administration](https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2013.818635) (Medical Teacher, 2013)

> [!TIP]
> **In practice**
> A virtual station still needs an examiner screen that scores one station at one event and a manager who can see each session's state. To see how StudyDrome runs exam day for any delivery mode, read /docs/osce/delivery/in-studydrome-exam-day/.