Evaluating preclinical medical students’ self-perceived OSCE performance: Content versus interpersonal skills

Background Effective communication is a key skill for medical trainees (Correa et al. 2025). This requires both knowledge and interpersonal skills. The former is obviously a major component of medical school curricula, but the latter is also increasingly taught intentionally (Flanagan & Cummings 2023; Gilligan et al. 2021). Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), which give students experiential practice and individualized feedback, are frequently used to this end (Brogan et al. 2016; Cvengros et al. 2016; Reid et al. 2016; Sedler et al. 2025; Talwalkar et al. 2021). At our institution, an OSCE is completed at the end of the preclinical phase of medical school, which is a fascinating inflection point in the curriculum; students have been learning clinical reasoning and interpersonal skills through their coursework, but they have yet to apply them to real patient encounters. In this study, we analyze written reflections composed after this OSCE to interrogate the balance between these two skillsets: to what extent do preclinical medical students turn their focus to the content of the interaction (medical knowledge) versus the delivery (interpersonal skills)? Methods Second-year medical students completed an OSCE exercise and written reflection. The resulting 288 reflections were analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. Codes were identified based on common competencies assessed in learners and categorized as either “interpersonal”- or “content”-related. Results Analysis revealed that students see room for improvement with both interpersonal skills and content areas, highlighting behaviors that are important but not yet mastered. There was greater focus on interpersonal than content, but many students described how the two intertwine in a medical encounter. Major themes included the idea of balance and looking to the future, as well as the importance of reflection in professional identity formation. Conclusions Preclinical medical students are able to reflect on the balance between interpersonal skills and medical content. Detailing their current practices informs where they may need greater instruction. Ultimately, this work aims to contribute to a more detailed understanding of how we can prepare students to be strong communicators as they transition to the clinical environment.