Conducting a high-stakes OSCE in a COVID-19 environment.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Pandemic Response

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges for medical schools globally.
• Ensuring final year medical students graduate on time is critical for the healthcare workforce, especially during crises.
• There was a lack of guidance for medical educators on conducting assessments under pandemic conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the planning and execution of final year clinical performance examinations at Duke-National University Singapore Medical School during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To provide guidance for other medical schools facing similar challenges in adapting clinical skills assessments.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of maintaining assessment validity and reliability while ensuring participant safety.

Main Methods:

• Adaptation of final year clinical performance examinations (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations - OSCEs).
• Implementation of safety protocols to minimize risk during assessments.
• Focus on maintaining the validity, reliability, and defensibility of high-stakes assessments.

Main Results:

• Successful adaptation and execution of final year clinical performance examinations during the pandemic.
• Demonstrated that high-stakes clinical skills assessments can be conducted safely and effectively.
• Ensured graduating medical students could enter the workforce without delay.

Conclusions:

• Medical schools can successfully adapt clinical skills examinations during pandemics.
• Careful planning and implementation of safety measures are key to maintaining assessment integrity.
• Timely graduation of medical students is achievable even under unprecedented public health challenges.