Abstract

Objective: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of Virtual and In-Person Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) formats by comparing the performances of two cohorts of first-year pharmacy students. Specifically, it assesses how well the students apply their clinical knowledge and counseling skills in pharmacy practice foundations courses.

Methods: This study compared the assessments of two cohorts of first-year pharmacy student performances between Virtual OSCE (n=27) and In-Person OSCE (n=31) utilizing the same standardized rubric for prescription consultations and self-care OTC counseling. A two-sample t test was conducted, with significance set at p<0.05. Additionally, a post-survey was conducted that gathered insights on the advantages and challenges of each format from students, evaluators, and standardized patients informing the optimization of Virtual OSCEs in a newly launched 3-year Hybrid-Pharm D program.

Results: In the 4-year on-ground program, 82% of students achieved a score of 80 out of 100 on their first attempt in the In-Person OSCE. In the newly launched 3-year Hybrid PharmD program, 88.5% of students achieved the passing score of 80% or above on their first attempt in the Virtual OSCE. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two OSCE formats (p>0.05). The survey had a 65.4% response rate (51 respondents out of 78 recipients). The 94% of survey respondents reported being comfortable with the video conferencing software. The confidence in applying clinical skills and knowledge was rated high by students in both formats, with 86% of students from the In Person OSCE and 87% of students from the Virtual OSCE.

Conclusions: The successful implementation of the Virtual OSCE format in the Hybrid-PharmD program demonstrated similar learning outcomes to the In-Person format. Furthermore, it was well received by the students, standardized patients, and evaluators, which confirms that Virtual OSCEs are a viable, effective, and sustainable component of the hybrid program.

Author(s): Yuqin Hu*, Nadia Khartabil, Ayda Awaness, Michelle Batugo, Will Ofstad and Parto Khansari

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