An OSCE venue is a circuit of station rooms plus six rooms around it: candidate briefing, candidate holding, quarantine, examiner and simulated patient briefing, an exam office, and a rest area. Every station needs its equipment list, and every list needs on-site spares. This page gives the room plan, the circuit rules, the equipment list, and a walk-through checklist for the rehearsal.
Which rooms does an OSCE need?
The AMEE guide on OSCE organization lists what the venue must provide beyond the stations: briefing rooms, an office, waiting areas, a quarantine room and refreshments. Turn that list into a room plan before the venue is booked, not after.
Room | Purpose | How many |
|---|---|---|
Station rooms | One per station, with space for the candidate, the examiner and a simulated patient or a model | Stations × circuits |
Rest station | A room inside the circuit where the candidate waits one rotation | One per circuit, placed inside the circuit and never first or last |
Candidate briefing | Where all candidates in a session hear the same briefing | One per site |
Candidate holding | Where candidates wait before their circuit starts, with no contact with finished candidates | One per session |
Quarantine | Where candidates who have finished wait until the next session has started, so station content cannot pass between sessions | One per site, sized for the whole session |
Examiner and simulated patient briefing | Separate from candidates; also where examiners collect packs and devices | One or two |
Exam office | Where the lead and the floor manager sit, with the master timetable, spare packs and the incident log | One per site |
Simulated patient rest and changing | Somewhere to sit, eat and change out of moulage between sessions | One |
Refreshments | For examiners, simulated patients and staff across a long day | Near the briefing rooms |
The rest station rule matters. The AMEE guide places rest stations inside the circuit so every candidate rests at a comparable point in the rotation. A rest station, whether first or last, is not a rest; it is a shorter exam for some candidates.
Multi-site exams multiply the plan. The AMEE guide recommends a local team per site. Each site needs its own office, its own floor manager and its own copy of the packs.
How should the circuit be laid out?
A circuit is a loop of station rooms that candidates move around in a single direction on a timed signal. Four rules keep the loop honest.
- One direction, short walks. Candidates should move from one door to the next without passing a station they have not sat. Corridor layout usually decides this.
- Linked stations stay in order. Two consecutive stations on one scenario, such as a history followed by a management task, need circuit care. The AMEE guide states that no candidate starts on the second or ends on the first. Place linked pairs mid-circuit and check the start points.
- Sound and sight separation. A candidate reading instructions outside room 4 should not hear the candidate inside room 3. Doors closed, instructions on the outside wall, one candidate per doorway.
- Timing signals reach every room. A bell in the corridor that room 9 cannot hear means room 9 runs on its own time. Test the signal at every door during the rehearsal.
Two circuits run in parallel when candidate numbers demand it. They need identical stations, identical equipment and, ideally, the same examiners across sessions. Any difference between circuits is a difference between candidates.
What equipment does each station need, and what spares?
Every station has an equipment list in its template, written by the station author and checked in the review workshop. The AMEE guide's writing template includes a section for site organizers on equipment and setup. Collect those sections into one master list per circuit.
Then plan the spares. The AMEE guide's advice is plain: spares of every piece of equipment on site. Apply it at three levels.
- Consumables: gloves, dressings, syringes, paper towels, printed charts. Stock for the whole day plus a third.
- Instruments and models: a spare of each item that can break or go missing. One extra stethoscope per circuit, one spare of each part-task trainer, a spare battery for every device.
- Marking: spare mark sheets or spare devices, charged, in the exam office. Spare pens. A printed copy of every station's marking scheme, even when marking is electronic.
Technology-enhanced stations add a layer. A part-task trainer, a manikin, or a screen-based task has its own failure mode. Each needs a named person to reset it, a spare or fallback station, and a rule in the contingency plan for what happens to the candidate whose station failed.
How does moulage fit in?
Moulage is the makeup and props used to simulate wounds, rashes, and other signs on a simulated patient or model. It increases realism and raises cost and setup time. A 2024 paper offers guiding principles for incorporating moulage into OSCEs. The practical points for the venue:
- Moulage takes time to apply and to remove. Book the simulated patient earlier and add a changing room.
- It must be identical across circuits and sessions, or candidates see different signs.
- It needs its own spares: the kit, and a second simulated patient who can wear it.
- Photograph the finished moulage at the rehearsal and use the photograph as the standard on the day.
If the sign can be shown as a photograph or a model without losing what the station tests, that is cheaper and more consistent.
The venue walk-through checklist
Do this at the rehearsal, two weeks before the exam, with the floor manager and the exam office. Do it again on the morning.
What goes wrong with venues?
- Rooms booked by number, not by layout. Twelve rooms on two floors is not a circuit. Walk the building before booking.
- The signal that only some rooms hear. Found on the day, when one station runs a minute long every rotation. Test every door.
- No quarantine. Finished candidates text waiting ones. Station content leaks between sessions. Size the quarantine room for the full session.
- One of everything. A broken model at 9:15 becomes a missing station for a whole circuit. Spares of everything.
- Adjustments discovered at the door. A candidate with an approved separate room arrives to find none. Adjustments are fed into the room plan at T-4 weeks, as the timeline shows.
Frequently asked questions
How many rooms does an OSCE need?
One room per station per circuit, a rest station inside each circuit, and six rooms around the circuit: candidate briefing, candidate holding, quarantine, examiner and simulated patient briefing, an exam office, and a rest area for simulated patients. A twelve-station single-circuit OSCE therefore needs about twenty rooms, plus refreshments.
Where should the rest station go in an OSCE circuit?
Inside the circuit, never first or last. The AMEE guide places it there so that every candidate rests at a comparable point in the rotation. A rest station at the start or the end gives some candidates a shorter exam than others.
What spares should be on site for an OSCE?
A spare of every piece of equipment, as the AMEE guide advises. In practice: consumables for the day plus a third, one spare of each instrument and model per circuit, spare batteries for every device, spare mark sheets or charged spare devices, and a printed marking scheme for every station.
Why does an OSCE need a quarantine room?
To stop station content from passing from candidates who have finished to candidates who have not started. Finished candidates wait in quarantine until the next session's circuit has begun. The room must be separate from the holding room and large enough for the whole session.
Is moulage worth the cost in an OSCE?
When the sign is what the station tests and a photograph or a model would change the task, yes. It costs application time, a changing room, a spare kit, and a second simulated patient. It must be identical across circuits. If a photograph or a model preserves the task, use that instead.