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. 2023 Sep 16:3:100215.
doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100215. eCollection 2023 Dec 15.

Development of a communication-based virtual patient counseling objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for first year student pharmacists

Joshua T Wollen  1 , Jodie S Gee  1 , Kimberly A Nguyen  1 , Dhara D Surati  1
Affiliations

Development of a communication-based virtual patient counseling objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for first year student pharmacists

Joshua T Wollen et al. PEC Innov. .

Abstract

Objective: This text seeks to describe a framework for delivering and executing a virtual patient counseling OSCE and compare student performance to the in-person alternative.

Methods: A communication-based virtual patient counseling objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was created to fulfill the educational outcomes of a previously held in-person OSCE in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual nature of this OSCE simulated a telehealth encounter, which has increased in utilization since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This OSCE was offered twice in one semester - once as a formative assessment and once as a summative assessment. Student performance was mapped to learning outcomes and compared the previous year's in person performance.

Results: The described virtual framework for executing the OSCE successfully decreased the time required and saw <1% change in overall performance from students when compared to the previous year in person which was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: This framework for a virtual communication-based OSCE reduces time with a negligible impact on student performance compared to the in person alternative.

Innovation: This work describes a telehealth virtual patient counseling model to replace the traditional patient counseling OSCE in pharmacy education with comparable outcomes.

Keywords: Patient counseling; Pharmacy education; Pharmacy practice; Telehealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents, and royalties. The authors have no use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to declare. We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. This paper has not been previously submitted to Patient Education and Counseling for consideration.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sample patient counseling encounter screen.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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