Abstract
Although many medical schools incorporate distance learning into their curricula, assessing students at a distance can be challenging. While some assessments are relatively simple to administer to remote students, other assessments, such as objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) are not. This article describes a means to more effectively and efficiently assess distance learners and evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the assessment. We developed a teleOSCE, administered online in real time, to two cohorts of students on a rural clerkship rotation and assessed the feasibility and acceptability of using such an approach to assess medical students' clinical skills at rural locations. Project feasibility was defined as having development and implementation costs of less than $5000. Project acceptability was determined by analyzing student interview transcripts. A qualitative case study design framework was chosen due to the novel nature of the activity. The implementation cost of the teleOSCE was approximately US$1577.20, making it a feasible educational endeavor. Interview data indicated the teleOSCE was also acceptable to students. The teleOSCE format may be useful to other institutions as a method to centrally administer clinical skills exams for assessment of distance medical students.
Highlights
Many medical schools incorporate distance learning into their curricula, assessing students at a distance can be challenging
The 'extrapolated cost' column in Table 1 illustrates how the teleOSCE may be implemented at a feasible cost for an even larger group of students
TeleOSCE financial feasibility was determined by calculating the total cost of faculty full-time equivalents needed for case development and implementation, telephone charges for the Transcript coding of student interviews revealed the teleOSCE to be an educational activity of acceptable quality and importance
Summary
Many medical schools incorporate distance learning into their curricula, assessing students at a distance can be challenging. Methods: We developed a teleOSCE, administered online in real time, to two cohorts of students on a rural clerkship rotation and assessed the feasibility and acceptability of using such an approach to assess medical students’ clinical skills at rural locations. Conclusions: The teleOSCE format may be useful to other institutions as a method to centrally administer clinical skills exams for assessment of distance medical students. The distance from the home educational institution can affect student engagement with faculty and with other learners. It is difficult for the home educational institution to assess clinical learning for distance students. The clinical experiences and preceptor feedback for distance students often become proxies for the clinical assessments administered to on-campus learners. As more students move off-campus for clinical training, medical institutions need more robust methods of assessing clinical competence for distance learners that are comparable to the assessment methods for on-campus students
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