An OSCE day opens with three separate briefings: one for candidates, one for examiners, and one for simulated patients. Each lasts 20 to 30 minutes, is given by a named person from a written script, and repeats rules the audience already knows. A briefing reminds; it does not train. The AMEE guide on OSCE organization lists the three as separate events, and a published deployment sequence puts the examiner orientation at 30 minutes.
Why three briefings and not one
The three groups need different things and must not hear each other's. Candidates must not hear the examiners' notes on the stations. Examiners must not hear the simulated patients' scripts discussed. Simulated patients need welfare rules that are nobody else's business. And a room of eighty people hears nothing well. Three short briefings in three rooms, at staggered times, is the arrangement the venue page plans for.
A briefing is also the last point at which the organizer can catch a person who should not be in the room: an examiner who has not been trained, a simulated patient who has not rehearsed the role, a candidate in the wrong session. The register is checked at the door.
What does each briefing cover?
Candidates | Examiners | Simulated patients | |
|---|---|---|---|
Who gives it | The OSCE lead or the exam office | The OSCE lead or the examiner trainer | The simulated patient coordinator |
When | On arrival, before quarantine begins | 30 minutes before the first bell, after room set-up | 45 minutes before the first bell, before costume and moulage |
Length | 20 minutes | 30 minutes | 20 minutes |
The rules repeated | Phones and devices handed in; quarantine until the later cohort has arrived; no discussion of stations; the bell sequence; pilot stations exist and do not count | Scripted prompts only; score the checklist, then the global rating, independently; the critical-item rule and the dangerous-behavior procedure; confidentiality; what to do if a candidate is unwell | Play the role as rehearsed; the "if asked anything else" rule; the physical-examination limits; the stop signal; breaks and water; who to tell about a problem |
The mechanics | Start station, rotation direction, timing, reading time, what happens at the bell | Their station and room; the mark sheet or the screen; where the reserves are; the marshal's name; how scores are handed back | Their room and examiner; the costume and props; reset between candidates; who relieves them |
The document | The candidate briefing sheet, also in the handbook | The examiner briefing sheet and the station's examiner part | The SP briefing sheet and the case script |
What must a briefing not try to do?
Train. An examiner who first sees the marking scheme at 8:30 will score the first three candidates differently from the last three. The training program and its case orientation happen before the day. The briefing checks that they happened. If they did not, the reserve examiner would examine, and the untrained one would observe.
The same holds for simulated patients. A role is rehearsed and checked on video before the day, as the program page sets out. The briefing repeats the limits and the stop signal. It does not read the script aloud for the first time.
And the candidate briefing does not explain the exam. That was the handbook's job, weeks earlier, and the candidates section covers it. The briefing repeats what matters in the next four hours.
What does the examiner briefing say about the marking?
Four sentences, in this order, because examiners remember the last thing they heard.
- Score every item; an unscored item is not a zero, it is a gap the office has to chase.
- The global rating is your own judgment of the whole performance, made after the checklist and not added up from it.
- A critical item is marked on the sheet with its rule; apply the rule as written and record it.
- If you see something dangerous, follow the procedure on the sheet and tell the marshal at the next change-over.
The marking scheme page explains why the second sentence matters. The critical-error policy is behind the third and fourth.
What does the simulated patient briefing add?
The welfare items. Who relieves them and when. Where water and food are. How to signal that they need to stop, and that stopping is allowed. What to do if a candidate does something outside the agreed examination. Which examiner is in their room and how to raise a problem without breaking role in front of the candidate.
Then standardization, in one line: play it the way you rehearsed it, for the fortieth candidate exactly as for the first.
The briefing checklist
Limits
The AMEE guide names the three briefings and the deployment sequence gives the examiner orientation a length. Neither gives the wording, which depends on the school's regulations and the day's plan. The scripts on this page are a shape to fill, and they should be rewritten when the delivery section's day plan changes.
Frequently asked questions
How long should an OSCE examiner briefing be?
About 30 minutes, given 30 minutes before the first bell. A published deployment sequence for OSCEs allows 30 minutes for examiner orientation on the day. The briefing repeats the marking rules, the critical-item procedure, and the mechanics of the room; training and case orientation happen before the day.
Should candidates, examiners, and simulated patients be briefed together?
No. The AMEE organization guide lists three separate briefings. Each group needs different content, some of which the others must not hear, and a large mixed room does not hear well. Use three rooms and staggered times.
What should candidates be told on the morning of an OSCE?
The rules for the next few hours: devices handed in; quarantine until the later cohort has arrived; no discussion of stations, the bell sequence, the start station, or rotation direction; and that some stations are pilots that do not count. The exam itself was explained in the handbook weeks earlier.
What happens if an examiner has not been trained?
They do not examine. The examiner register is checked during the briefing, and an untrained examiner observes while a reserve examiner conducts the examination. Training in the morning, in the 30 minutes before the first candidate, changes how the first candidates are scored compared with the last candidates.
What welfare items belong in the simulated patient briefing?
Who relieves them and when, where water and food are available, how to signal a stop and that stopping is allowed, what to do if a candidate goes beyond the agreed examination time, and how to raise a problem with the examiner without breaking role in front of the candidate.