Open AccessImplementing remote pharmacy objective structured clinical examination during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Pei Se Wong,
Anil Tumkur,
Suresh Shanmugham,
David Weng Kwai Chong,
Pravinkumar Vishwanath Ingle,
Syed Imran Ahmed
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pharmacy education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.198
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1477-2701
pISSN - 1560-2214
DOI - 10.46542/pe.2020.202.221225
Subject(s) - formative assessment , objective structured clinical examination , pharmacy , medical education , bachelor , summative assessment , covid-19 , medicine , psychology , nursing , mathematics education , disease , archaeology , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , history
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