OSCE You at the finish line: Designing clinical exams that measure what matters
If you think education is rote and boring, we’re creating new pathways in education.
Rebel Chapa, MSDH, RDH, from Fort Worth, Texas, talks about using OSCEs in dental education to calibrate faculty, find gaps in learning, and measure what matters. OSCE stands for objective structured clinical examination. It is the gold standard in health-care education, as it offers a means of assessing skills in a standardized way to fairly measure what the student is learning while maintaining clinician safety.
OSCEs don’t replace live patient care; they help ensure that every student is being evaluated in the same way.
Join us in this RDH podcast to learn more.
Rebel will be teaching at the RDH Under One Roof Educator session on Thursday, July 16, 2026. The course is called “OSCE: Designing clinical exams that measure what matters.”
About the Author
Jackie Sanders, MBA, RDH
Chief Editor, RDH magazine
Jackie Sanders, MBA, RDH, is a respected dental industry leader with more than 40 years of experience in dental hygiene, marketing, and professional relations. As chief editor of RDH, she is dedicated to advancing the dental profession through education, innovation, and collaboration. Prior to this role, she served as manager of professional relations and communications for Sunstar/GUM, building strong connections with industry associations, educational institutions, and dental professionals nationwide. Jackie has also contributed her expertise through committee service with organizations including the American Dental Education Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
Andrew Johnston, RDH
Andrew Johnston, RDH, is your everyday hygienist who is passionate about sharing education and knowledge to others. Practicing in Washington State since 2009, Andrew enjoys utilizing his full scope of practice through traditional and restorative procedures on any given day—still working in the operatory 40-plus hours each week. In 2015, he started the wildly popular dental hygiene podcast A Tale of Two Hygienists with his cofounder Michelle Strange. Because of the podcast's success, they were able to begin a new chapter in dental audio content with The Dental Podcast Network, which consists of 10 short-format shows on different dental topics airing each day of the work week.
Rebel Chapa, MSDH, RDH
Rebel Chapa, MSDH, RDH, is a dental hygiene educator and first-year clinical coordinator at Tarrant County College in Hurst, Texas. She has presented on team-based learning and student engagement at the Texas Dental Hygienists’ Association Annual Conference and is a published author and peer reviewer for the Journal of Dental Education. Her professional interests include active learning, clinical reasoning, competency-based assessment, and faculty calibration in dental hygiene education. Outside the classroom, Rebel enjoys spending time with family, experiencing live music, playing board games, and being a proud Boston terrier mama.