Head of Clinical Skills & OSCEs

The Head of Clinical Skills & OSCEs will provide academic leadership for the design, development, delivery, coordination, and continua quality enhancement of OSCEs within the MBBS programme. In the early phase, this will focus on the creation and implementation of formative and summative OSCE stations in Phase I (Years 1 & 2). The postholder will ensure OSCEs are valid, reliable, equitable, and aligned with the GMC regulatory framework and standards. A central component of this role is close collaboration with the Head of Clinical & Communication Skills and teaching team, the Lead for Clinical Practice & Professionalism (CPP) and the Assessment Team to ensure seamless alignment between teaching learning outcomes and assessment. The postholder will ensure the design and delivery of valid, reliable, and equitable clinical skills assessments. The post holder will also contribute to teaching in clinical and communication skills and support development of learning resources to prepare students for OSCEs. The role includes leading OSCE blueprinting, station design, examiner training, standard setting processes, data analysis, governance, and quality enhancement. The OSCE Lead will serve as the primary point of contact for all matters relating to clinical skills assessment and will ensure alignment with GMC regulatory requirements.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Clinical Skills Curriculum and Development Lead the design, development and writing of the Clinical Skills curriculum for Years 12, ensuring coherence with CPP and GMC clinical practice outcomes and programme aims. Extend and refine the curriculum for Years 35, producing a vertically integrated skills progression with clear mapping to clinical placements and workplacebased learning. Develop resources (simulation cases, procedural guides, digital/VLE content, OSCE preparation materials) and ensure evidencebased approaches to clinical and communication skills education. Work with CTFs/OOPEs/clinical partners to standardise teaching quality and assessment readiness across sites. Build and maintain a skills outcomes map and teaching schedule aligned to assessment blueprints. OSCE Development and Delivery Lead blueprinting, station writing, piloting and quality assurance for Phase 1 OSCEs (formative and summative in Year 1; summative in Year 2, and contribute to scaling OSCEs across Years 35 culminating in MLA CPSA readiness. Ensure constructive alignment between curriculum outcomes, taught content, and OSCEs; maintain a sustainable station bank with version control and quality metadata. With the Head of Assessment/Assessment Officers, colead examiner education (recruitment, training, calibration) and contribute to standardsetting activities (e.g., borderline regression, Angoff). Participate in postassessment review meetings (e.g. Exam Boards and OSCE wash-up meetings) and quality enhancement cycles, ensuring changes are feedback into curriculum and resource improvement. Leadership and Strategy Provide academic leadership for the design, development, and delivery of OSCEs across all years of the MBBS programme, beginning with Phase I. Ensure aligned of OSCEs with GMC requirements, programme outcomes, and the School and University assessment frameworks. Contribute to long-term planning for scaling OSCEs as clinical years (Years 35) come online Contribute to the long-term planning and development for scaling OSCEs in Phase 2 (Years 3-5) and leading to the Final Year Clinical and Professional Skills Assessment (CPSA), forming the practical half of the mandatory Medical Licensing Assessment. Lead innovation in performance-based assessments informed by contemporary evidence and best practice in medical education. Assessment Development Lead OSCE blueprinting to ensure comprehensive coverage of clinical, communication, and professional skills and values. Develop, review, pilot, and quality assure OSCE stations and grading criteria Guide academic and clinical educators in building a sustainable, high-quality OSCE station bank. Contribute to standard setting using appropriate methods (e.g. borderline regression, Angoff, or other appropriate methods) Quality Assurance and Governance Ensure regulatory, quality and governance standards across all elements of clinical and communication skills assessments. Support the Head of assessment with producing postexam psychometric reports, analysis of performance data. Co-lead in partnership with the Head of Assessment, post-assessment quality enhancement cycles and contribute to School-wide assessment governance structures. Work with the Quality and Placements Manager and Assessment Team to ensure adherence to policies, risk management, and health and safety requirements. Operational Coordination Coordinate (with the assessment and professional services team) the operational delivery of OSCEs, including scheduling, venues, equipment, planning, staffing, training logistics, and communication. Work closely with the administrative and assessment support teams to ensure seamless delivery. Liaise with clinical partners, training hubs, and external stakeholders to secure an appropriately trained examiner workforce. Teaching, Learning Resources and Student Support Contribute to clinical and communication skills teaching and OSCE preparation sessions. Lead/oversee the creation and development of student learning resources (digital (VLE content) and written) to support skills acquisition and assessment preparation. Undertake the pastoral and academic care of students through the personal academic tutor role, referring students to professional services where appropriate. Lead on the development of student learning resources and VLE content related to OSCE preparation. Teach as a member of the teaching team at an undergraduate level. Teach in a variety of settings from small group tutorials to large lectures. Identify learning needs of students and define appropriate learning objectives and ensure that these are met through content, methods of delivery and learning materials. Supervise the work of students (including projects, clinical observations and placements) and provide advice and support on study skills and help with learning problems. Continually improve and enhance teaching design and delivery by reflecting on own teaching practice and obtaining and analysing feedback from students and peer observation. providing timely and effective feedback in line with university quality standards. Collaborate on research projects with other academic staff in the Faculty and across the University. Collaboration, Leadership and Professional Engagement Foster a culture of crossschool collaboration, professionalism, and respect. Maintain strong working relationships with the Head of Clinical and Communication Skills, Lead for CPP, the Head of Assessment, clinical partners and external stakeholders. Represent the School of Medicine at relevant internal and external committees, working groups, and regulatory meetings relating to assessment. Engage in continuing professional development and educational scholarship to maintain expertise in medical education and performance-based assessment. Undertake activities and duties consistent with the role and the needs of the School as directed by the Head of Clinical and Communication Skills, Head of Assessment or Director of Undergraduate Medicine. Ongoing Clinical Commitment Given that the purpose of the Clinical Senior Lecturer role is to enable individuals to embed contemporary clinical practice in teaching and the curriculum more generally, it is a fundamental condition of your employment that you remain employed in a clinical role within the National Health Service (NHS).

The University defines this as

Maintaining full registration with the General Medical Council. (You are advised to continue membership of one of the medical defence organisations.) Hold a consultant or equivalent level employment contract with an NHS Trust.

Indicative clinical duties include

General sub-specialty outpatient clinics as appropriate to the individuals job plan. Participation in a general consultant rota, as appropriate to the contract Participation in audit, quality improvement and service development activity as an active and engaged member of a clinical team Active membership of a wider multi-disciplinary team Active participation in clinical governance issues associated with the post