Disseminated Tele-OSCE During a Pandemic: One University's Experience

Due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in-person educational activities were suspended across the globe throughout 2020. In health care education, this required a swift, creative response to maintain the flow of trained clinicians into the workforce without compromising the integrity of core learning outcomes. Early during the pandemic, remote synchronous simulation emerged as a compelling focus of the overall strategy.

At one large health sciences university in the northwestern United States, family nurse practitioner faculty worked closely with the Simulation Operations team to plan, deliver, and assess a pilot tele-OSCE (objective structured clinical examination).

In postevent debriefs and surveys, both standardized patients and students affirmed that the activity was generally safe, accessible, and high value.

With appropriate planning, consensus building, and technology readiness assessment, tele-OSCEs can play a critical role in sustaining the flow of health care students into the workforce during a pandemic. [.