Effect of phone call distraction on the performance of medical students in an OSCE.

Background: The usage of smartphones in the daily clinical routine is an essential aspect however it seems that they also present an important distractor that needs to be evaluated. The aim of this prospective study was the evaluation of the influence of phone calls as distractors on the performance levels of medical students during an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), simulating the normal clinical practice.

Methods: As the goal of an OSCE presents the examination of clinical skills of medical students in a realistic setting, more than 100 students recruited from the university hospital of Cologne participated in either OSCE I or II.