To all OSCE participants:
Since I have been teaching internationally trained pharmacists for 10 years, I have seen the same mistakes made over and over.
I will try to summarize for you off the top-of-my-head what I have observed as the most common mistakes:

• Not solving the main problem the patient has come to see you about.  If you do not solve the station, you will not pass.
• Not listening to the patient's main concerns.  If the patient says they have stomach pain and you are not addressing it, then you will not solve the station.  If he patient comes to you for a cough and cold recommendation and you do not recommend anything because they have they have high blood pressure, you will not solve the station (Clue: you could recommend saline sprays, acetaminophen, rest, lots of fluids)
• Not using the clues in the station: the patient, the medication chart or record, any papers or Rx's that patient might bring you.  Your best source of clues is the PATIENT.  Make sure you give the patient the opportunity to talk. 
• Not using the pharmaceutical care process to solve a drug related problem.  Pharmaceutical Care (PC) make up 30-40% of the OSCE.  If you do not use the PC process, you will not pass.
• Communication makes up almost 50% of the exam.  If you do not communicate effectively you will not pass.  This includes listening well!   If you are not understood by the patient (or assessor!) you will not be understood and will likely fail the station.  Ask the patient if he / she understood your recommendations. 
• Not knowing your therapeutics.  If you do NOT know your therapeutics well, chances are you will be making many errors in the stations. 
• Wasting time in the references.  Do not waste time looking up information in the CPS if you already know the answer.  You can waster precious time looking in the CPS or other references.  The CPS is a very cumbersome reference to use.  Use it only if you have to. 
• Giving information or advice to a patient that puts the patient at risk.  For example, if you advise a patient to take ibuprofen for stomach pain without carefully assessing the patient, you will have problems.
• Not using your time carefully.  You only have 7 minutes per station.  If you have not solved the main problem at the sound of the bell, then you will probably not get the problem solved in the last 2 minutes.
• Not suggesting non-pharmacological recommendations.  For example, if a diabetic, overweight patient comes to you and their blood sugars are high, you should inquire about diet and exercise.  This is particularly relevant for most life style diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, etc.
• Not using your professional judgement.  This is one of the most difficult for IPGs to use.  In pharmacy, you will be faced with difficult situations every day.  There are often no definitive answers.  You must make a decision that is in the best interests of your patient.  

I hope these suggestions help all of you who will be doing OSCE next week.  Good luck to all of you.
Paul