Abstract: Objective To explore the impacts of different competition forms, like OSCE and tracks contest, on the results of the finals of the National Clinical Skills Competition which is developed for evaluation of training outcomes of medical undergraduates in China, and puts forward some suggestions for further improving the competition forms of the national finals. Methods The specific competition system and the results of the preliminary and quarter-final of 168 medical students from 42 colleges and universities participating in the 7th National Clinical Skills Competition were analyzed. Results The preliminary part of the 7th National Clinical Skills Competition was dominated by OSCE and combined with the track contest. There were 29 tasks in 14 stations in the preliminary OSCE, and 5 tasks in 3 stations in the track contest. The data analysis showed that the reliability coefficient of the OSCE (α=0.847) is much higher than that of the track contest (α=0.637) . The quarter-final by 20 colleges and universities adopted the track contest with 5 tasks in 3 stations. Compared with the preliminary OSCE, half of the top 8 colleges in the preliminary OSCE failed to reach the semi-final. It is suggested that the difference may be caused by the unreasonable design of the competition form. Conclusions In order to make the National Clinical Skills Competition more fairness, more justice and more openness, it is suggested that the competition form of national final competition should take OSCE as a major form and supplemented by track contest.

Key words: Clinical skills competition, Medical undergraduates, Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), Tracks contest, Form of competition