A Comparison of the Effect of Using Log Books and OSATS on the Progress of Medical Students in Anatomy Course

Background: Student evaluation is one of the most important aspects of educational activities. There are various assessment tools such as log books, OSATS (Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills) and portfolios.

Aim: This study aimed to compare two methods of assessment: using a log book and OSATS, on the progress of medical students offering anatomy course.

Methods: This interventional study was carried out with medical students. In the first half of the semester, the students filled out their log book of limb anatomy. The log books were reviewed during a meeting by a teacher and feedback was given to them. Lower limb anatomy was taught in the second semester and after that, evaluation was done using an OSATS test, and feedback was given to the students. Finally, the traditional evaluation method, log-books and OSATS were compared using SPSS software.

Results: Average mark for the practical part of the anatomy of the upper extremity with log book was 17 while the mean mark for the practical part of the lower limb anatomy, using the OSATS method was 15.26. A total of 23 students (82.14%) were satisfied with the logbooks and it was found useful for anatomy practice. A total of 71.42% of medical students reported OSATS method to be a fair test and 35.72% of them reported that OSATS method is full of stress.

Conclusions: Students as well as the teacher were more satisfied with evaluation by log book. In contrast, OSATS method was not satisfactory.