中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This paper presents an integrative literature review conducted to describe the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as a possible alternative measurement approach to assessing clinical competency in psychology. In 2001, the Executive Yuan of Taiwan passed the Mental Health Act and Regulations bill governing the licensing and continuing education of psychologists. Due to the increasing demand for professional services and these licensing regulations, the standards for professional competency have increased. However, the licensure examination for psychologists in Taiwan is still limited to a paper-and-pencil format. There is no systematic and objective assessment method or tool available to evaluate practical skills and attitudes when delivering actual psychological services. Method: A literature review was conducted on three topics: clinical competence in psychology, a comprehensive comparison of current measurement models, and OSCE applications in psychology. Results: The OSCE has been found to assess psychologists' knowledge, practice skills, and attitudes at the same time. It is widely used in the health sciences to assess clinical competence and is regarded as an improvement over the traditional paper-and-pencil examinations because the design of its testing procedures and its scoring process are standardized for good reliability and validity. Conclusion: The OSCE has been shown to distinguish psychologists with various levels of competency and can enhance the effectiveness of continuing education training and professional development.