RESEARCH ARTICLE: Implementing remote pharmacy objective structured clinical examination during the COVID-19 pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2020.202.221225Keywords:
OSCE, Remote Access, Online Teaching, COVID-19 Pandemic, Pharmacy StudentsAbstract
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 different tasks, reflecting the scope of practice for future pharmacists, and offers a promising direction towards the assessment of such practical skills. Online OSCE planning, development and evaluation are in themselves useful for clarifying assessment goals, processes, hindrances, and affordances
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