Anesthesiology APPLIED Exam › OSCE: airway management (from 2027)

Team-based station: communication, collaboration, leadership (2027 pilot)

OSCE: airway management (from 2027)·~5 min read· Physician-reviewed✓ Sourced · 4

Stem

Team scenario (illustrative; the ABA has not published this station's format). You are called to a PACU bay. Mr. Okafor, 72 years old, 80 kg, is 40 minutes out from a laparoscopic sigmoid colectomy. His blood pressure is 74/40, heart rate 126 and SpO2 91% on a face mask. In the bay are his PACU nurse, a junior anesthesiology resident and a surgical intern. Your task: lead the team.

Question

The nurse turns to you and says: His pressure's been sliding for ten minutes, I've paged surgery twice, and nobody's told me what to do. What do you want?

Ideal answer

Headline"Thank you, I've got him. I'm Dr. Lee, the anesthesiologist, and I'm leading. I'm worried about bleeding until we prove otherwise."

Shared mental model. "Let's take ten seconds so we're all working from the same picture: Mr. Okafor is hypotensive and tachycardic after a colectomy."
Roles by name, closed loop. "Sam, you're on airway and breathing: non-rebreather, then tell me his breath sounds. Maria, you're on circulation: open the fluids wide on both IVs and cycle the cuff every two minutes. Read it back to me. Good."
Escalate and gather data. "Priya, please page the surgical attending directly and say 'hypotensive, possible bleeding, anesthesia at bedside, come now,' then send a gas with hemoglobin and type and crossmatch. Out loud, please, every result and every change in pressure."
Invite speaking up. "Anyone see something I'm missing? Drain output? Abdomen? If you're worried about anything, say it, even if I look busy."
Huddle and re-plan. "Okay, quick huddle: pressure up to 88 after a liter, drain has 400 mL of blood, hemoglobin 7.8. We're treating hemorrhage. Maria, two units of red cells, please; Priya, update surgery with that. I'll call the OR. Next check in three minutes."

Breaking down the answer

What is published: in August 2026 the ABA announced an unscored eighth OSCE station for the 2027 APPLIED Exam; each candidate takes either an airway management or a team-based scenario, and the team-based station explores communication, collaboration and leadership behaviors.¹ Pilot scores are for evaluation only and do not affect results.¹ The ABA has not published the station's timing, format or scoring; I prepare with established crisis-resource and TeamSTEPPS behaviors.

Shared mental model — TeamSTEPPS describes it as each member keeping situation awareness and communicating so the whole team understands the plan.² One sentence of "here is what I think is happening" gives the team a target.
Role clarity — a brief assigns roles and responsibilities;² naming a person prevents the task everyone assumes someone else is doing.
Check-back — the receiver repeats the order and the sender confirms it;³ that is the visible closed-loop behavior.
Call-outs and huddles — call-outs announce critical information; a huddle is an ad hoc regroup when circumstances change.³ My huddle summary updates the mental model.
Two-challenge rule — it empowers any member to stop the line over a safety concern;² a leader who asks for gaps makes that easier.
Communicating with other professionals — clear and professional, prioritizing the most patient-relevant information, listening actively, and recognizing and resolving conflict; these are the outline's scored behaviors for professional communication.⁴

Follow-up question

The surgical intern says, "He's just dry. Give a bolus and I'll check on him after rounds," and starts to leave. The nurse quietly says to you that the drain has filled again. How do you handle it?

Follow-up answer

HeadlineA safety conflict, and a key fact raised quietly; I thank the nurse and call it out: "Drain's filled again, everyone."

To the intern, calm and direct: "I hear that you think he's dry. I'm concerned this is bleeding: 400 mL in the drain, hemoglobin 7.8, and still hypotensive after a liter. This is a safety issue, and I need your attending at the bedside now." If the intern still leaves, I say it a second time, then escalate myself: the two-challenge rule.² I call the attending with SBAR: situation, background, assessment, recommendation.³ Then a huddle on the plan, and afterward a short debrief on what went well and what to change.³

Pitfalls that cost points

Thinking silently; the team cannot share a plan you never say aloud.
Arguing with a colleague instead of stating facts and escalating.
Quoting a station length or scoring rubric the ABA has not published.

Rapid-fire

Q: How do I take leadership without sounding rude? A: "I'm Dr. Lee, the anesthesiologist, and I'll lead; thank you for calling me."

Q: How do I close the loop on a drug order? A: Name the person, give drug, dose and route, ask for a read-back, and confirm.³

Q: What are the four DESC steps? A: Describe the situation, express concerns, suggest alternatives, and state consequences for the patient.²

Q: When do I debrief? A: Immediately after the event, to find improvements and reinforce what went well.³

Q: Does the 2027 team station count toward my result? A: No; pilot scores are used only for evaluation.¹

Numbers to know

Item	Value
Pilot station	8th OSCE station, 2027¹
Scenarios	One of two: airway or team-based¹
Effect on results	None; evaluation only¹
Professional communication behaviors	4⁴
SBAR elements	4
Challenges before escalation	2³

Sources

1.ABA Announces 8th OSCE Station Pilot for 2027 APPLIED Exams · ABA, 2026 · theaba.orgAnnounced Aug 25, 2026: unscored pilot; each 2027 candidate takes either an airway management or a team-based scenario. Duration, format and equipment not published.
2.TeamSTEPPS 3.0 Pocket Guide · AHRQ, 2023 · nachc.orgAHRQ Pub. No. 23-0043, revised May 2023; copy hosted by NACHC.
3.Teamwork Tools and Strategies (TeamSTEPPS) · AHRQ · ahrq.gov
4.APPLIED Exam Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Content Outline · ABA · theaba.orgSection A.4, Communication with Other Professionals; the outline does not describe a team station.

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on Oct 16, 2026. Guidelines change; confirm doses against current institutional protocols.