ABSTRACT
The oral examination, sometimes known as a viva voce, is characterized by a face-to-face interaction between an examinee and one or more examiners. The purpose of an oral examination is to explore an examinee’s thinking in order to assess skills such as critical reasoning, problem solving, judgment, and ethics, as well as the ability to express ideas, synthesize material, and think on one’s feet. Traditional unstructured oral examinations are vulnerable to many threats to validity. However, in the context of a low-stakes, formative assessment, an unstructured oral examination can provide an invaluable opportunity for faculty to engage in a conversation with learners, understand their thinking, and provide immediate feedback based on the encounter. In high-stakes settings such as board certification examinations, a structured, OSCE-like oral examination can provide a unique opportunity for in-depth probing of decision-making, ethical reasoning, and other “hidden” skills. Chart-stimulated recall and multiple mini-interviews (MMIs) are examples of standardized oral exams. This chapter provides information on the fundamental strengths and limitations of the oral exam and some suggestions for improving oral examination processes.
