Having taken (F.O.) the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as part of the MRCPsych part I, I found that the skills acquired for the exam were less helpful in my day-to-day clinical work than presentations of cases to senior colleagues. These allowed me to have a more comprehensive grasp of the scenarios. Plans to jettison the long case will lead to a reduction in emphasis on one's ability to perform such presentations (Reference Oyebode, George and MathOyebode et al, 2007).

Moreover, as a trainee for whom English is a second language I fear that replacing the long case with objective structured examination will deprive people like me of the opportunity to improve our language skills.

Thus we support the case for the long case!