---
title: "Recruiting and keeping OSCE examiners"
description: "How to recruit OSCE examiners: the arithmetic for how many, who qualifies, what non-clinicians can score, the register, and what keeps examiners."
canonical: https://studydrome.com/docs/osce/people/recruiting-examiners/
updated: 2026-10-08
---

# Recruiting and keeping OSCE examiners

How to recruit OSCE examiners: the arithmetic for how many, who qualifies, what non-clinicians can score, the register, and what keeps examiners.

An OSCE requires one examiner per observed station, per circuit, per session, plus reserves, all trained before the day. For 12 observed stations, two circuits, and two sessions, that is 48 examiner slots. Reserves come on top, and fewer people are needed if some examine both sessions. Recruiting starts months in advance and draws on a roster of trained examiners. It pays or recognizes the time. It keeps people by treating them as part of the exam, not as a resource for one morning.

## Why recruitment is a planning problem

Examiners are the highest single cost of an OSCE. They are also the scarcest input. The [budget page](/docs/osce/planning/budget-and-cost-model/) shows examiner time as the main cost line in a published cost study. The [planning timeline](/docs/osce/planning/planning-timeline/) places examiner recruitment months before the exam because training has to fit between recruitment and the day of the exam. A school that starts recruiting six weeks out gets whoever is available and trains no one. It reads the result in the [examiner variance](/docs/osce/people/examiner-variance/) numbers afterward.

## How many examiners does the exam need?

The arithmetic is simple and often skipped. The AMEE guide on OSCE organization lists examiner selection with reserves among the exam office's tasks. A published deployment sequence puts one to two examiners per station.

| Input | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Observed stations | 10 of 12 (two are unobserved) |
| Circuits running in parallel | 2 |
| Sessions in the day | 2 |
| Examiners per station | 1 |
| Slots = stations × circuits × sessions × examiners per station | 10 × 2 × 2 × 1 = 40 |
| Reserves per session | 2 per session, 4 in all |
| Examiners who can take both sessions | 20, if the day plan and the person allow |
| People needed | Between 24 (everyone doubles) and 44 (nobody does), plus reserves |

Two examiners per station double the number of slots. Linked stations may need two. A morning-and-afternoon examiner sees 40 candidates. They need a break and lunch, which the day plan has to hold. The register says who is willing to double.

## Who qualifies?

The examiner has to know the competency the station samples at the candidate's level. The examiner has to be trained on the instrument. Beyond that, the AMEE guide reports a real distinction. Non-clinician examiners, including trained simulated patients, produce checklist scores that agree with physicians' scores. The agreement does not extend to global scoring. So the exam's [marking scheme](/docs/osce/design/designing-the-marking-scheme/) decides who can examine which station.

- **Clinicians at or above the candidate's level of practice.** Any station, including the global rating.
- **Clinicians from another specialty.** Any station whose scheme is observable behavior; a briefing on the specific case before the day.
- **Non-clinician trained examiners.** Checklist-only stations, or stations in which a clinician provides the global rating.
- **Simulated patient examiners.** Selected communication stations, as a separate instrument, as the [simulated patient program page](/docs/osce/people/simulated-patient-program/) sets out.

Never the candidate's own supervisor on the candidate's station, and never anyone with a declared conflict. The register records the exclusions.

## Where do examiners come from?

- **Faculty with teaching commitments.** The core. Examining is written into the teaching role, and the department head releases the time.
- **Clinical staff at partner hospitals.** The largest pool for a clinical school. Recruited through the clinical leads, with a fixed date a year out.
- **Recent graduates and residents.** Good checklist examiners for early-year stations, with the global rating in a clinician's hands.
- **Retired clinicians.** Reliable, available on weekdays, and often the best-calibrated after training.
- **External examiners.** One or two per sitting, for the [board's](/docs/osce/planning/regulations-boards-and-appeals/) purposes rather than to fill slots.

Each source needs a different ask. Faculty need the date protected. Hospital staff need a letter to their manager. Retired clinicians need transport and lunch. Residents need the training counted toward something.

## What keeps examiners?

The AMEE guide's advice on simulated patients applies to examiners too: remunerate and thank. Examiners leave for three reasons, and a program can address each.

1. **The day was badly run.** Examiners waiting in a cold room for a late start do not come back. The [delivery section](/docs/osce/delivery/) is the fix.
2. **They never heard what happened.** Send the exam outcome summary and the metrics for their station to every examiner. Send their own comparison with the station mean, framed as feedback. The [consent and data page](/docs/osce/planning/consent-recording-and-data-protection/) says examiners are told this comparison exists.
3. **Nobody said thank you.** A letter that names the exam and the role and counts for appraisal or continuing professional development costs nothing. Payment for external examiners and hospital staff is a line in the budget, not a favor.

## The examiner register

One list, owned by the exam office, feeding the [training program's](/docs/osce/people/examiner-training-program/) records.

| Field | Why |
| --- | --- |
| Name, contact, employer, specialty | Who to ask and who to write to |
| Level of practice | Which stations they may examine, including the global rating |
| Training: initial date, refresher dates, case orientations | Eligibility for the sitting |
| Sittings examined, stations, sessions | Experience and load |
| Willingness to double, availability constraints | The day plan |
| Exclusions and conflicts | Who may not examine whom |
| Monitoring notes and feedback given | The variance report's follow-up |

## Limits

There is little research on examiner recruitment. The evidence on this page comes from the organization guides and the cost studies. The numbers in the arithmetic table are an example, not a norm. A small school with one circuit and thirty candidates needs a dozen examiners. Its retention problem is different: the same twelve people every year, who need to stay calibrated and stay willing.

## Frequently asked questions

### How many examiners does an OSCE need?

One per observed station, per circuit, per session, plus reserves. Multiply the four numbers to get the slots. Then decide how many people can take both sessions. Ten observed stations, two circuits, and two sessions give 40 slots.

### Can non-clinicians be OSCE examiners?

For checklists, yes. The AMEE guide reports that trained lay examiners, including simulated patients, give checklist scores that match physicians' scores. Global ratings do not match. So a clinician gives the global rating on any station that meets the pass mark.

### Should OSCE examiners be paid?

Faculty members examine as part of their teaching role, with the time released. External examiners and hospital staff are usually paid, or their employer is. The cost sits in the exam budget. Everyone gets a letter of thanks that counts for appraisal.

### How far ahead should examiners be recruited?

Months, not weeks. Training and case orientation have to fit between recruitment and the day. Hospital staff need a date fixed a year out and a letter to their manager. Recruiting six weeks out yields untrained examiners.

### What should an examiner register record?

Contact details and employer. Level of practice and the stations the person may examine. Training dates and case orientations. Sittings examined. Whether they can take both sessions. Exclusions and conflicts. The feedback given after each report.

## Sources

**Sources**

1. [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)
2. [Objective structured clinical examination: design, development and deployment](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6398515/) (PubMed Central, 2019)
3. [Brown C, Ross S, et al. Money makes the (medical assessment) world go round: the cost of components of a summative final year OSCE](https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159x.2015.1033389) (Medical Teacher, 2015)

> [!TIP]
> **In practice**
> A recruited, trained and allocated examiner still needs a scoring screen that opens on their station and nothing else. To see how StudyDrome gives each examiner their station and candidate list in the examiner app, read /docs/osce/people/in-studydrome-examiner-app/.