OSCEs for dentistry

  • K. F. M. Fan &
  • J. Jones
UK: PasTest price £18.95, pp 284 ISBN 190462751X | ISBN: 1-904-62751-X

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are rapidly becoming the en vogue examination format in dentistry for testing both factual knowledge and clinical skills including ethics, communication and information delivery, as well as practical dental skills.

The preliminary pages of this book contain the preface, a useful introduction, a section on the duties of a dentist and a list of abbreviations. Although the latter is a useful inclusion, I for one would like to have seen a statement to the effect that abbreviations should not be used in routine clinical practice because these can be ambiguous. The main section of the book is populated with series of OSCE scenarios ordered into the main dental discipline groups. It is refreshing to see a specific set of scenarios on history taking and examination near the beginning and also a section on law and ethics towards the back of the book. However, it is unfortunate that orthodontics and child dental health are lumped together, limiting the range of scenarios that could be included. Specifically, there is no mention of questions about orthodontic appliance treatment, adult orthodontics or the multidisciplinary aspects of malocclusion. Nonetheless, the book is not intended to be a syllabus for all types of OSCE examinations, and those taking OSCE examinations will be able to compensate for these drawbacks to what is in general a good text. The book is illustrated with a number of colour pictures, but there is a significant bias to OMFS related illustrations, which is presumably a function of the authors' specialty interests.

The book is designed for undergraduate students and those taking the MFDS examination and is pitched at the right level. It will therefore be spotted on an increasingly frequent basis in dental schools. The book is not intended to be used for 'cover-to-cover' reading or alternatively for rote learning. Moreover, the book would be best for dipping into during spare clinical time or whilst travelling for example as I found I did whilst getting a feel for the book. Despite the minor criticisms detailed above, OSCEs for dentistry is a welcome addition to the growing stable of books covering the various examination formats and examination techniques in dentistry. I would recommend it as a 'must have' text for undergraduate students and those sitting the surgical royal colleges' MFDS examinations.