A study on objective structured clinical examination in physical therapy education: a scoping review protocol

This study is a scoping review that aims to systematically map the types of Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) station tasks used in physical therapy education. OSCEs are widely employed to assess clinical competencies in physical therapy programs; however, considerable variation exists in the design, content, and number of station tasks across institutions and regions. The purpose of this review is to identify and categorize OSCE station tasks implemented for physical therapy students, examine the level of consistency in task design, and explore variations across curricula and geographical contexts. By mapping existing practices, this review seeks to clarify current trends and gaps in OSCE station design within physical therapy education. This scoping review will be conducted in PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) and reported. Studies published will be identified through systematic searches of PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and CINAHL. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies reporting on OSCE use in physical therapy education will be included. Data will be extracted on study characteristics, educational context, number and content of OSCE stations, assessment criteria, and targeted competencies. Findings will be summarized using descriptive statistics, tables, and thematic analysis to provide an overview of OSCE station task practices in physical therapy education.