New peer-reviewed research confirms that remote OSCEs delivered with purpose-built software can match face-to-face exams for validity and reliability. The study comes from our partners at the University of Nicosia Medical School (UNIC), who evaluated Qpercom as the platform for a high-stakes postgraduate clinical skills exam.
The paper, “Remote Clinical Skills Assessment for Medical Professional Examinations: During and Beyond the Pandemic”, appears in Scientific Culture (Vol. 12, No. 2.1, 2026). It’s authored by Avgis Hadjipapas, Valentina Ionova, Amer Salim, Dionysis Vaidakis, Kevork Hopayian, and Ourania Kolokotroni.
The Challenge: Assessing Clinical Skills Without a Shared Room
The COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift away from in-person assessment. This left the University of Nicosia Medical School with a critical question: how do you deliver a high-stakes clinical skills exam when candidates, examiners, and simulated patients can’t share a room?
The exam in question was the Simulated Surgery component of the Cyprus MRCGP [INT] programme, delivered in partnership with the Royal College of General Practitioners, UK.
The university’s assessment team helped shape new features within Qpercom:
- Reliable video-conferencing virtual examination rooms.
- Automatic rotation of candidates across virtual stations.
- A dedicated “control room” for real-time exam administration and troubleshooting.
- Real-time release of examination cards showing physical examination and investigation findings.
The Results: Remote Exam Reliability on Par with Face-to-Face
Across three examination diets, the research team put the remote format to a rigorous psychometric test. The results speak for themselves:
- 95% of students (35/37) were successfully examined within the same exam diet. Contingency planning ensured every remaining candidate was assessed shortly after.
- Content validity was comparable to face-to-face exams. The only meaningful gap was the (expected) inability to test hands-on physical examination directly.
- Reliability held up well. Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) – the more robust metric for small-cohort exams like this one, showed no meaningful difference from previous face-to-face sittings. If anything, there was a trend toward lower error in the remote format.
- An independent expert reviewer (the RCGP’s International Development Advisor) confirmed the remote version was not substantially different from its face-to-face predecessor.
Why This Remote OSCE Study Matters
This is one of the first published evaluations of a purpose-built OSCE software platform (rather than generic video-conferencing tools) used for a postgraduate membership examination. The findings make a strong case that remote, purpose-built clinical assessment isn’t just a pandemic-era stopgap.
As the authors put it, this mode of delivery is feasible, valid, reliable, and manageable both administratively and technically – well beyond the circumstances that first required it.
The study also highlights a practical advantage for institutions considering remote OSCEs: examination teams ran each circuit with just five administrative staff. That’s leaner than what’s typically needed when generic video-conferencing tools are adapted for exam use.
Congratulations to the Research Team
We’re proud to have have been a part of the University of Nicosia Medical School’s assessment team throughout this process. Warm congratulations to Avgis Hadjipapas and all the co-authors on this important contribution to the medical education literature.
📖 Read the full paper here: Scientific Culture, Vol. 12, No. 2.1
Qpercom partners with universities and medical education institutions worldwide to deliver reliable, valid, and administratively efficient OSCE and clinical skills assessment software – in person, remotely, or hybrid.
