Using modified information delivery to enhance the traditional pharmacy OSCE program at TMU - a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Education
• Clinical Skills Assessment
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) requires continuous enhancement due to evolving technology and pedagogy.
• Integrating informatics, specifically virtual patients, offers a novel approach to healthcare training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement an integrative OSCE method using virtual patients in pharmacy education at Taipei Medical University.
• To improve pharmacy students' competence in information management and dissemination.
• To enhance students' critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills.

Main Methods:

• An integrated pharmacy OSCE was developed using standardized and virtual patients (DxR Clinician).
• Four simulated stations were designed: inpatient pharmacy (data collection, prescription review, physician consultation) and patient ward (education).
• Pilot testing was conducted with 19 Master in Clinical Pharmacy students, followed by a satisfaction questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Students found stations 2 and 3 (prescription review, physician consultation) most challenging.
• The method received high ratings for relevance (4.32/5), improving clinical ability (4.16/5), practicality (4.32/5), and willingness for future use (4.28/5).

Conclusions:

• The integration of virtual patients in OSCE is an efficient and practical assessment method.
• This approach offers a more realistic clinical encounter, fostering better learning from mistakes.
• The virtual patient integration enhances pharmacy students' clinical competence and reasoning skills.