Developing OSCE for Pharmacy Students in The Pandemic Era (original) (raw)
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THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON CHEMICAL EDUCATION (ISCE) 2021
The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been implemented as an assessment of pharmacist education. It can measure the ability of pharmacist students both structurally and objectively. But since the pandemic of Covid-19, the implementation of OSCE must be switched into an online method. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the implementation of the first online OSCE for students in the pre-registered pharmacist program of the Department of Pharmacy UII, especially in pharmacy management course. It focused on the drug management cycle including selection, procurement, distribution, and use. Using the same competencies as the offline method, the online OSCE was designed and applied to apothecary student batch 37. It covers information and data collection, defining and solving the problem, and professionalism. The student and the examiner were met online via Zoom platform and mediated by Google Classroom for submitting the worksheet. There were five stations (selection and procurement, drug reception, distribution, drug storage, documentation, and report) that must be completed for each student with a duration of 10 minutes per station. The examiner evaluated student's performance based on the rubric to assure objectivity. To evaluate the effectiveness of online OSCE, the student's mark of batch 37 was compared to batch 36 that used an offline method. Based on the result, the final score of batches 36 was higher than 37, 82.33 versus 70.72 respectively (p<0.05, CI: 7.21±16.01). Technical problems on the online method such as devices, internet connection, and data plan have been strongly impacted on student's performance during OSCE. Moreover, the IT skill of students also took effect on stations that require documentation or report using worksheets. In conclusion, many obstacles in the first online OSCE implementation reduced the final mark of students. A comprehensive effort on enhancing student's readiness for online learning and system adjustment on online OSCE is important for further implementation.
Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has influenced pharmacy education including learning, assessment, and exams. In the UAE, pharmacy instructors have adapted several innovative teaching methods to strive for quality learning outcomes. The current trial presented a head-to-head comparative assessment between on-campus versus virtual Objective Subjective Clinical Examination (OSCE) with examiners’ and students’ perspectives. Aim: The main aim was to compare fourth-year students’ and examiners’ perceptions of the feasibility (time and logistics), stress, performance, and satisfaction between on-campus versus virtual OSCE. Method A randomized controlled head-to-head comparative assessment between the On-campus and virtual OSCE was conducted to explore performance and satisfaction of pharmacy students and examiners towards the two OSCE settings. The virtual OSCE was carried out directly after the on-campus -OSCE and the setting was designed in a way that aligned with the on-campus ...
Healthcare, 2022
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are routinely used in healthcare education programs. Traditionally, students undertake OSCEs as face-to-face interactions to assess competency in soft skills. Due to physical distancing restrictions during COVID-19, alternative methods were required. This study utilized a mixed-method design (online survey and interviews) to evaluate second-year pharmacy students’ and examiners’ experiences of their first virtual OSCEs in Australia. A total of 196 students completed their first virtual OSCE in June 2020 of which 190 students completed the online survey. However, out of the 190 students, only 88% (n = 167) consented to the use of the data from their online survey. A further 10 students and 12 examiners were interviewed. Fifty-five students (33%) who participated in the online survey strongly agreed or agreed that they preferred the virtual experience to face-to-face OSCEs while 44% (n = 73) neither agreed nor disagreed. Only 20% (n =...
Pharmacy
The spread of COVID-19 and social-distancing rules have increased the need for alternative learning environments with a focus on e-learning platforms. The objective of this study was to assess whether and to what extent the transition from traditional learning and assessment environment to the e-setting impacts the knowledge and skills acquired by students and their satisfaction with new e-solutions of taking the OSCE test. The study compared the results of three face-to-face (2018–2019) and one electronically conducted (2021) OSCE tests, as well as students’ feedback on the content and organization of the tests. For data analysis the one-way ANOVA test and post hoc multiple comparisons were used. The results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of and students’ satisfaction with OSCE tests in the Zoom environment. However, more focus on communication techniques is required in a remote communication environment to better cover all patient health-related and drug communicat...
Virtual OSCE: Experience and challenges with a large cohort of pharmacy students
Pharmacy Education, 2022
In response to the inability to conduct conventional face-to-face objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) due to the COVID-19 lockdown, this study explored options to design virtual OSCE (vOSCE) that meets the objectives and standards of effective competency-based assessment for a large cohort of pharmacy students. The vOSCE required advanced planning of the actual assessment and technical conduct. The development of a master plan consisting of the types of competencies to test, topics and number of cases, and assessment rubrics, guided the team members to develop an adequate OSCE assessment module. Technical aspects included recruitment of examiners, simulated patients (SP), technical support, and a platform for vOSCE. The main challenges were to ensure well-ordered vOSCE and a stable internet connection for examiners, SP, and students. Google Meet was utilised due to its functionality, familiarity, and low internet consumption to all parties involved. Feedback was obtaine...
Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions
Purpose: This study investigated pharmacy students’ perceptions of various aspects of virtual objective structured clinical examinations (vOSCEs) conducted during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Malaysia.Methods: This cross-sectional study involved third- and fourth-year pharmacy students at the International Islamic University Malaysia. A validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to students who had taken a vOSCE a week before.Results: Out of the 253 students who were approached, 231 (91.3%) completed the questionnaire. More than 75% of the participants agreed that the instructions and preparations were clear and helpful in familiarizing them with the vOSCE flow. It was found that 53.2% of the respondents were satisfied with the flow and conduct of the vOSCE. However, only approximately one-third of the respondents believed that the tasks provided in the vOSCE were more convenient, less stressful, and easier to perform than those in the conventional OSCE. F...
Implementing remote pharmacy objective structured clinical examination during the COVID-19 pandemic
Pharmacy Education, 2021
Objective: This paper describes the development and feasibility evaluation of a formative remote objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for second-year students in a four-year Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm.) honours programme. Methods. A five- station remote formative OSCE was developed and implemented using Microsoft Teams. The authors used a post-OSCE evaluation, in combination with the results of a students’ survey and comprehensive feedback from faculty. Results: A total of seventy second-year B.Pharm. (Hons.) students participated in the online OSCE. Based on the post-OSCE evaluation, about 80% of students agreed that the OSCE ran smoothly. Respondents agreement on the time allocated to complete each station varied between 63.6% and 81.8%. Time allocation for each station and internet connectivity were raised as the main concerns by both the students and the faculty. Conclusion: A remote online OSCE is a feasible strategy for assessment of various skills based on diff...
Folia medica Cracoviensia, 2022
College, a completely remote OSCE (e-OSCE) was conducted for the first time using the Microsoft Teams platform. 255 test takers were tasked with presenting their communication and clinical skills in order to assess clinical reasoning. A i m: Analysis of the assessment of the OSCE adaptation to the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic at the Department of Medical Educations in the form of the e-OSCE from the students' perspective. M e t h o d s: Discussion of the OSCE modification was carried out among 6 th-year medical students and graduates undergoing validation of their foreign medical degrees. In order to assess students' opinions of the e-OSCE, we used questionnaires. The Statistica 12.0 program was used to analyse the results. R e s u l t s: According to 91.57% of respondents, the e-OSCE was well-prepared. 60% of students strongly agree and 29.47% rather agree that the order of the stations was appropriate and clear. A majority of respondents rated the e-OSCE as fair. 66.32% of respondents strongly agree and rather agree that the proportions of communication and clinical skills were appropriate. The vast majority of the participants of the exam (81.05%) had enough time for individual stations. A statistically significant (p <0.0001) correlation was found between the type of classes and preparation for the e-OSCE. For 61.05% of respondents, the Laboratory Training of Clinical Skills course was the best preparation for students taking the e-OSCE. Taking into account the stressfulness of the OSCE, only 15.96% of students found the online form more stressful than the traditional (in-person) exam. C o n c l u s i o n s: The e-OSCE in students' opinions was well-organized. Informing test-takers prior to the e-OSCE about the role of invigilators assessing individual stations should be improved. The e-OSCE has been proven to be suitable for assessing a wide range of material and validating communication and clinical skills in appropriate proportions. The e-OSCE is fair according to examinees' opinion. The study proves that even in a pandemic, it is possible to prepare an online exam without exposing examiners and examinees to the dangers posed by COVID-19.
2021
Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its quick progression to a global pandemic has urged medical schools to shift from didactic to distance learning and assessment approaches. The quality of clinical training and assessment have been jeopardized due to the regulatory restrictions and potential hazards to human lives. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the utility and efficacy of an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (e-OSCE), which attempted to transform the format of a face-to-face OSCE to an e-OSCE. Methods We conducted three end of clerkship e-OSCEs for final year medical students in Surgery, Medicine and Family Medicine using the teleconferencing application of Microsoft Teams (MST). The e-OSCE blueprint included the assessment of all clinical skills except physical examination and procedural skills. Examiners supervised e-OSCE from the college campus, while all students were remotely assessed through the MST channels. During th...
Computer methods and programs in biomedicine, 2018
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) has been used in many areas of healthcare training over the years. However, it constantly needs to be upgraded and enhanced due to technological and teaching changes. We aim at implementing an integrative OSCE method which employs informatics via the virtual patient within the pharmacy education curriculum at Taipei Medical University to enhance the pharmacy students' competence for using and disseminating information and to also improve critical thinking and clinical reasoning. We propose an integrated pharmacy OSCE which uses standardized patients and virtual patients (DxR Clinician). To evaluate this method, we designed four simulated stations and pilot tested with 19 students in the first year of the Master in Clinical Pharmacy program. Three stations were simulated as the inpatient pharmacy: 1) History and lab data collection; 2) Prescription review; 3) Calling physician to discuss potential prescription problems. The fourth ...