Breaking Bad News to a Patient with a Suspected Lung Cancer
A timed 10-minute communication OSCE station with reading time, a warning bell and an examiner-style weighted checklist including critical items, marked the way a real examiner would mark it.
Communication10 min12 checklist items
- Station type
- Communication
- Time
- 10 minutes, after 60s reading
- Total marks
- 27
- Critical items
- 3 (missing one fails the station)
Candidate instructions
You are a junior doctor in a respiratory outpatient clinic. A 58-year-old woman, Mrs. Sykes, has been invited to discuss the results of her CT scan. The CT report shows a spiculated mass in the right upper lobe with hilar lymphadenopathy, highly suspicious for a primary lung cancer. Your task is to break this news to her in a structured and compassionate manner. You should explore her understanding, give the news clearly, respond to her emotional reactions, and discuss a plan. You have 10 minutes. Tissues and a patient information leaflet are available in the room.
How the station runs
- 60 seconds of reading time with the instructions above, and nothing else.
- 10 minutes on the clock, with a warning bell before the end.
- The examiner's checklist, 12 weighted items worth 27 marks, revealed only when the station ends.
- Your score, with a critical-fail flag if a safety-critical item was missed.
The checklist stays hidden until the station is over, exactly as it would outside the exam room.
Log in to run "Breaking Bad News to a Patient with a Suspected Lung Cancer"
A free account starts the clock: reading time, the station itself with a warning bell, then the examiner's checklist and your score.
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Educational content for students and clinicians in training. It does not replace professional judgement, local protocols or current prescribing information.