O.P.12 - Experience of Pharmacy students participating in an Objective Structured Clinical Exam: a survey: Presenter(s): Majanne Wolters. Utrecht University, Netherlands

Abstract

BackgroundIn the Pharmacy master program at Utrecht University students are trained for patient centred pharmaceutical consultations. After the training, students participate in a formative Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) to experience what an OSCE is like and to gauge their ability. Students receive written feedback and a videorecording of their consultations. Students who perform well on a station get an exemption for that station in the summative OSCE.In the fall of 2020, the organisation of the OSCE was altered because of COVID-19. A survey was held to find out if these changes should be kept in the future.MethodsImmediately after the OSCE students were asked to fill a semi-structured survey. The survey contained multiple choice questions with room for elaboration about the organisation, their performance, and their experience of the OSCE. Students were asked to characterize the OSCE with four words.FindingsFrom 26 October – 2 November 2020 82 students participated in the formative OSCE; 69 (84%) filled the survey. Students agreed that the OSCE was well organised (77%) and the assessors were friendly and put them at ease (87%). However, 80% of the students felt stressed. To characterize the OSCE students used 95 different words (total 196 words) which related to experiencing stress (22%), being an instructive experience (16%), difficult (12%), a pleasant atmosphere (8%) and general positive remarks (19%).DiscussionThe survey offered in-depth insight in students experience of the OSCE. Assessors experience that OSCEs are stressful and difficult for students. It is encouraging that students also mention positive aspects such as being educational and a pleasant atmosphere.The experience of the students and assessors have led to some changes in the organisation of the OSCE (more time per station, students prepare per station). In the future the survey could be repeated for comparison.