OSCE — Burns & Thermal Injury

Brief (to candidate)

You will assess a patient with a presentation consistent with Burns & Thermal Injury.
You have 8 minutes to take a focused history, outline examination, investigations, and management including red flags.

Clinical context

Burns are skin and deeper-tissue injuries caused by thermal, chemical, electrical or radiation energy, classified by depth (first-degree / epidermal — erythema, pain, no blisters; superficial second-degree / superficial partial-thickness — blisters, moist, painful, blanches; deep second-degree / deep dermal — dry, pale, slow capillary refill; third-degree / full-thickness — dry, leathery, insensate, no blanching; fourth-degree — muscle, tendon, bone) and by total body surface area (TBSA) using the Rule of Nines (adults), the Lund-Browder chart (children) or the palm method (patient palm equals 1 percent TBSA). Major burn criteria: over 10 percent TBSA in adults, over 5 percent in children or

Candidate tasks

1. Clarify onset, severity, associated features, and red-flag symptoms.
2. State focused examination priorities.
3. List first-line investigations and any named score/criteria.
4. Give immediate resuscitation steps.
5. Outline definitive management with doses/routes where standard.
6. Name complications and disposition (ward / HDU / theatre / discharge safety-net).
7. Mention one special-population modifier (pregnancy, child, elderly, CKD).

Examiner checklist

Model outline

Lead with the working diagnosis and life threats. Resuscitate before definitive tests when unstable. Use guideline-standard therapy with named agents and doses. Document escalation criteria and follow-up. A safe candidate is specific, structured, and never delays critical care for non-urgent imaging.^[2]