Having spent over 10 years working with a variety of OSCE’s for medicine, physiotherapy, pharmacy, and nursing I’ve seen some pretty big mistakes, generally though there are very few big mistakes students make in an OSCE. Here are the five most common small mistakes that can knock you down a few points at a time.

1. Not having a game plan when you enter the room. Once you read the instructions jot down a few short notes of what you need to do and the order you need to do it in. This will keep you on track and focused. I’ve seen nerves get the best of many students leaving them missing out on important sections for a history or a physical.
2. Not treating the OSCE as a real situation. It’s true, OSCE stations are not like real life, they are short, you are required to do things that you may or may not do in real life. These interactions can feel fake and contrived to the student. As an examiner this can come across as lack of interest, arrogance, or just plain incompetence. Do your best to play along with the situation, show empathy, and respect to the patient.
3. Thinking there are secrets or tricks. OSCE cases have no tricks, no hidden secrets, no surprise twists. The cases are straight forward you are not going to be expected to diagnose depression when told to examine a knee nor are you expected to uncover a rare disease or illness from an obscure symptom. Stations are straight forward and designed to test common conditions/situations.
4. Missing out on easy points/checks – items like “introduces self to patient” “washes hands” “summarizes” “closes the interview” “show’s empathy” are all simple, short and can be worth points in a variety of OSCE situations, on top of that these tick boxes are just mainstays in professional bedside manner.
5. Forgets to sign post an interview. For the benefit of yourself, the examiner, and the patient it is important to signpost your interview. I’m going to ask you about your family Hx… I’m going to ask you some questions about your social Hx, I’m going to ask you about your previous medical Hx, I’m going to examine your hip, your knee, etc. This helps cement what you have and have not done and keeps you on track, as well it normalizes the questions and demonstrates you are carefully conducting an exam/history in a logical and organized fashion.

Hope that helps!