Abstract
Purpose : To describe how a formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination was applied to fourth year pharmacy students at a university in Northern Cyprus. Methods : A blueprint-guided performance-based objective clinical examination was implemented. Group-prepared case scenarios based on course objectives were used to develop 12 exam stations. Scenarios were discussed in common training sessions for both assessors (faculty members) and senior students (standardized patients). Pilot testing of all stations was carried out on the day of the examination. Competencies tested included medical history taking, pharmacotherapeutic knowledge application, systemic client assessment, evidence-based drug information (DI) manipulation, drug related problems (DRP) management, patient counseling and communication skills. Results : The exam revealed that students were better in performing patient counseling (4.4 ± 0.23) and identification/resolution of DRPs (3.68 ± 0.18) than in DI tasks (2.00 ± 0.21) (p < 0.05). The students’ perceptions were positive with no significant differences in their average general performance compared to a written exam that had been previously carried out (p = 1.0). Conclusion : The evaluation revealed that undergraduate pharmacy students in a Turkish school of pharmacy were better in performing patient counseling and identification/ resolution of DRPs than in drug information manipulation tasks. Student satisfaction with OSCEs was higher compared to the written examination. The design and implementation of the formative assessment was successful with minimum cost, using only the existing available space and personnel. Keywords : Objective structured clinical examination, Formative assessment, Pharmacy students assessment, Competency, Examination
Highlights
With the continuous evolution of advanced patient care services and practices, the need for reviewing and restructuring pharmacy education to ensure that outcomes reflect the needs of societies has arisen, both nationally and internationally.Pharmacy undergraduate programs should prepare graduate pharmacists with the adequate knowledge, skills and attitudes to obtain roles in rational medication use and providing pharmaceutical care in a variety of settings, including in communities and hospitals
The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was carried at Near East University (NEU) Faculty of Pharmacy
The study findings show that undergraduate pharmacy students in a Turkish school of pharmacy perform better in patient counseling and identification/resolution of drug related problems (DRP) than in drug information tasks
Summary
With the continuous evolution of advanced patient care services and practices, the need for reviewing and restructuring pharmacy education to ensure that outcomes reflect the needs of societies has arisen, both nationally and internationally.Pharmacy undergraduate programs should prepare graduate pharmacists with the adequate knowledge, skills and attitudes to obtain roles in rational medication use and providing pharmaceutical care in a variety of settings, including in communities and hospitals. Core competencies to achieve that goal should be well-assessed and evaluated within curricula to provide accountability for the goals of pharmacy education [1,2]. Such competencies should be reviewed and regulated by both national and international pharmaceutical accreditation bodies such as the Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education (ACPE) [1]. Driven by these bodies, standards and recommendations, many pharmacy schools in the US have adopted OSCE's as a primary tool for student competency assessment. Other pharmacy schools and colleges have preferred to use OSCEs within their curriculum so as to assess the integration of student knowledge, skills, and communication, compared to traditional methods of knowledge assessment [1]
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