Understand the 25-minute station sequence
The official practical examination describes six assessed stations, one pre-test station, and at least one rest station in the track. The exact station subject varies; this website is an independent educational simulation.
Before you begin — understand the task
Read the official examination overview and this practice guide. Choose a category (head and neck, chest and abdomen, general differential, musculoskeletal differential, manipulation or acupuncture). Choose Study Mode for guided rehearsal or use the live station for a timed simulation. Keep a practice partner or qualified educator involved for physical demonstrations.
- Review the scenario title and expected skill topic.
- Have a clock and relevant instruments or safe simulation equipment ready.
- Study the evaluation checklist but hide it for exam-style attempts.
- Use only original practice content; never share confidential actual exam questions.
Read the station stem
The candidate reads the door stem silently, identifies the patient complaint, and plans the primary tasks. During this phase, form a focused approach; do not start a patient interview yet.
- Identify primary objective, context and exact requested tasks.
- Consider immediate red flags, scope of practice and consent requirements.
- Plan a sensible order: greeting, history, examination/testing, interpretation, communication.
- Make a short mental checklist; avoid spending the entire phase on a diagnosis.
Begin the simulated patient encounter
When the patient interaction stage begins, greet the standardized patient as you would in clinic. Ask focused questions; explain every touch, test or procedure. The website offers a finite scripted conversation: its responses are not a real human assessment.
- Introduce yourself, verify identity and obtain informed consent before examining.
- Explore history of presenting concern, medications, allergies, past and relevant family history.
- Screen for urgent symptoms, contraindications and referral needs.
- Explain/perform only relevant examination or investigations that can be practised safely.
- Use patient-friendly language, check understanding and summarize a safe plan.
Address clinical skill and safety
Adapt the encounter to its topic. Head/neck: relevant instruments and cranial/ENT assessment. Chest/abdomen: respiratory, cardiovascular and abdominal assessment. Differential cases: investigations, uncertainty and referrals. Musculoskeletal: relevant orthopaedic manoeuvres and red flags. Manipulation: safety screening and mime only. Acupuncture: point identification and simulation only.
- Do not perform manipulation thrusts. The handbook explicitly says to mime the adjustment without a thrust.
- Use an artificial pad for acupuncture needling, not a person; physical skill requires supervised training.
- Recognize emergencies and make appropriate referrals rather than exceeding scope.
- Explain infection prevention, hand hygiene and patient dignity throughout.
Answer topic-specific examiner questions
Stop patient interaction when the stage changes. Speak aloud concisely as though answering examiner questions. A practice partner can listen, or you can write answers in candidate notes and compare to approved teaching resources.
- Explain clinical reasoning and main differential diagnoses.
- Justify investigations and interpret findings without overclaiming.
- Identify important contraindications, limitations and referral decisions.
- Explain how your plan addresses patient preferences and follow-up.
Answer emergency-management questions
Respond to the emergency oral question shown in the station, whether or not it is related to the preceding case. This is a compulsory part of timed practice, not an extra standalone clinical station.
- Recognize life-threatening features and prioritize emergency action.
- Explain immediate assessment, emergency services activation and safe scope-bound care.
- Discuss emergency substances only to the extent of current applicable protocols and scope.
- Mention appropriate transfer, documentation and ongoing reassessment.
Finish the station and complete self-scoring
Mark each observable checklist item you actually performed. A checklist percentage is for practice feedback only; the official OSCE uses examiner ratings, overall station judgement and red-flag criteria.
- Do not award yourself points for steps you only intended to perform.
- Check the separate safety acknowledgment only when you actually addressed safety issues.
- Write down missed red flags and questions for an educator.
- Save the practice attempt and visit the dashboard to review your progress.
Review, repeat and increase difficulty
Review weak areas, rehearse again in Study Mode, then practise on a different case under full timing. A browser-saved checklist is not a psychometrically validated score or official pass prediction.
- Review reputable references and the official handbook for each skill.
- Try a fresh case in the same topic, followed by another topic to improve flexibility.
- Use a partner as patient/examiner for hands-on or communication practice.
- Repeat a six-station circuit with appropriate rest breaks once individual skills are consistent.
Full station training checklist
Use this preparation checklist before a timed attempt:
Begin station nowFrequently asked practice questions
Can I ask the patient anything?
Yes, you can enter text, but answers are selected from a limited set of educational responses. The simulator does not reliably understand every question or provide authentic individualized clinical findings.
Can I pause a practice station?
Yes. The simulator has Start/Resume, Pause, Next Stage and Reset buttons. Pausing is for learning and is not an official exam allowance.
What happens when the stage finishes?
In the interactive timed station, the countdown automatically moves to the next phase. Oral prompts unlock at the corresponding stage.
Does the score tell me whether I will pass?
No. It is a browser-stored self-review checklist. It cannot substitute for examiner assessment, clinical skills testing or statistical standard-setting.
Are results saved to my BoardQBank account?
No. This OSCE simulator currently saves results and notes only in the same browser, not to the central student login.