scholarly journals Assessing The Utility and Efficacy of e-OSCE Among Undergraduate Medical Students During The COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s):  
Sarra Shorbagi ◽  
Nabil Sulaiman ◽  
Ahmad Hasswan ◽  
Mujtaba Kaouas ◽  
Mona M. Al-Dijani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its quick progression to a global pandemic has urged medical schools to shift from didactic to distance learning and assessment approaches. The quality of clinical training and assessment have been jeopardized due to the regulatory restrictions and potential hazards to human lives. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the utility and efficacy of an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (e-OSCE), which attempted to transform the format of a face-to-face OSCE to an e-OSCE. Methods We conducted three end of clerkship e-OSCEs for final year medical students in Surgery, Medicine and Family Medicine using the teleconferencing application of Microsoft Teams (MST). The e-OSCE blueprint included the assessment of all clinical skills except physical examination and procedural skills. Examiners supervised e-OSCE from the college campus, while all students were remotely assessed through the MST channels. During the exam, the students stayed in their specified MST channel and examiners rotated across all students. The utility and efficacy of e-OSCE was evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire for students, examiners and e-OSCE team. Results The data analysis showed that 93.4% students and 92.2% examiners agreed with the quality and process of e-OSCE. Similarly, 83.6% students and 98% examiners agreed with the seamless organization of e-OSCE. As many as 45.9% students and 74.5% examiners agreed that e-OSCE was close to real life practice. Approximately one fifth of students and one third of examiners preferred e-OSCE over the face-to-face OSCE. The analysis of qualitative data generated the themes of e-OSCE structure and technology. While majority of participants were satisfied with e-OSCE, students were concerned about examiners’ training and e-OSCE contents. Examiners and e-OSCE team recognized the paper-less, tech-savy, fast and reliable format of e-OSCE. Conclusion During and beyond COVID- 19 era, e-OSCE is a strong substitute to standard OSCE for assessing clinical competence except for physical examination and procedural skills. The planning and implementation of e-OSCE reflects an ingenuity in the assessment of clinical competencies of medical students.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarra Shorbagi ◽  
Nabil Sulaiman ◽  
Ahmad Hasswan ◽  
Mujtaba Kaouas ◽  
Mona M. Al-Dijani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its quick progress to a global pandemic has urged medical schools to shift from didactic to distance learning and assessment approaches. The quality of clinical training and assessment have been jeopardized due to the regulatory restrictions and potential hazards to human lives. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of an electronic Objective Structured Clinical Examination (e-OSCE), which attempted to transform the format of a face-to-face OSCE to an e-OSCE.Methods: We conducted three end of clerkship e-OSCEs for final year medical students in Surgery, Medicine and Family Medicine using teleconferencing application of Microsoft Teams (MST). The e-OSCE blueprint included the assessment of all clinical skills except physical examination and procedural skills. Examiners supervised e-OSCE from the college campus while all students were remotely assessed through the MST channels. During the exam, the students stayed in their specified MST channels, examiners rotated across all students. The feasibility and effectiveness of e-OSCE was evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire to students, examiners and e-OSCE team. Results: The data analysis showed that 93.4% students and 92.2% examiners agreed with the quality and process of e-OSCE. Similarly, 83.6% students and 98% examiners agreed with the fairness, smoothness and organization of e-OSCE. As many as 45.9% students and 74.5% examiners agreed that e-OSCE was close to real life practice. Approximately one fifth of students and one third of examiners preferred e-OSCE over the face-to-face OSCE. The analysis of qualitative data generated themes of e-OSCE structure and technology. While majority of participants were satisfied with e-OSCE, students were concerned about examiners’ training and e-OSCE contents. Examiners and e-OSCE team recognized the paper-less, tech-savy, fast and reliable e-OSCE format. Conclusion: During and beyond COVID- 19 era, e-OSCE is a feasible and effective modality for assessing clinical competence except for physical examination and procedural skills. The planning and implementation of e-OSCE reflects an ingenuity in assessment of clinical competencies of medical students.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 281
Author(s):  
Kristen McAlpine ◽  
Stephen Steele

<p><strong>Introduction:</strong> The urogenital physical examination is an important aspect of patient encounters in various clinical settings. Introductory clinical skills sessions are intended to provide support and alleviate students’ anxiety when learning this sensitive exam. The techniques each Canadian medical school uses to guide their students through the initial urogenital examination has not been previously reported.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This study surveyed pre-clerkship clinical skills program directors at the main campus of English-speaking Canadian medical schools regarding the curriculum they use to teach the urogenital examination.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> A response rate of 100% was achieved, providing information on resources and faculty available to students, as well as the manner in which students were evaluated. Surprisingly, over onethird of the Canadian medical schools surveyed failed to provide a setting in which students perform a urogenital examination on a patient in their pre-clinical years. Additionally, there was no formal evaluation of this skill set reported by almost 50% of Canadian medical schools prior to clinical training years.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> To ensure medical students are confident and accurate in performing a urogenital examination, it is vital they be provided the proper resources, teaching, and training. As we progress towards a competency-based curriculum, it is essential that increased focus be placed on patient encounters in undergraduate training. Further research to quantify students’ exposure to the urogenital examination during clinical years would be of interest. Without this commitment by Canadian medical schools, we are doing a disservice not only to the medical students, but also to our patient population.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-90
Author(s):  
Juanita S. M. Kong ◽  
Boon See Teo ◽  
Yueh Jia Lee ◽  
Anu Bharath Pabba ◽  
Edmund J.D. Lee ◽  
...  

Introduction: With the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore underwent a national lockdown in which most organisations, including schools were closed. Halting face-to-face tutorials resulting in decreased clinical contact for medical students. Prior to the pandemic, we had developed the Virtual Integrated Patient (VIP). Equipped with conversational technology, it provides students online practice in various clinical skills such as history-taking, physical examination and investigations. The aim of this paper is to describe the supplementary use of VIP in the second-year class, in which a pilot study was conducted. Methods: The VIP platform was introduced to the cohort and used to supplement the teaching of history-taking in the “Communication with Patients” (CWP) module for second-year students. Traditionally, CWP tutorials involve face-to-face history-taking from standardised patients (SPs). Students, who consented to participating in the trial, had an additional 3 weeks’ access to VIP to practice their history-taking skills. They completed a survey on their user experience and satisfaction at the end of the 3 weeks. Results: Out of the 106 participants, 87% strongly agreed or agreed that using VIP helped in remembering the content while 69% of them felt that VIP increased their confidence and competence in history-taking. Conclusion: VIP was well-received by students and showed promise as a tool to supplement history-taking tutorials, prior to students’ encounter with SPs and real patients. Hence, this trend showed its potential as an alternative when clinical rotations were delayed or cancelled. Further research can be done to evaluate its effectiveness in this context.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kay Wu ◽  
Alex Chan ◽  
Avinash Pandey ◽  
Puru Panchal ◽  
Maroof Khalid ◽  
...  

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted in-person clinical training for medical students. Simulation-based teaching is a promising tool to introduce learners to the clinical environment. MacSim is a student-led simulation workshop for learners to develop clinical competencies. The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of MacSim and participants' perspectives regarding simulation-based teaching. Methods: A comprehensive simulation, representative of a virtual care scenario, was delivered to 42 pre-clerkship medical students via video conferencing. In pairs, participants obtained histories and carried out management plans for simulated patients. Participants were surveyed and interviewed. Survey data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test. Interview transcript data were thematically analyzed. Results: Post-simulation, participants (n=24) felt more prepared to make clinical decisions, collaborate, and communicate in a virtual setting. 92% of respondents agreed MacSim was a valuable learning experience and 96% agreed more simulation-based learning should be integrated into curricula. Emergent themes from interviews (n=12) included: 1) value of simulation fidelity, 2) value of physician feedback, and 3) effectiveness of MacSim in improving virtual clinical skills. Conclusion: Simulation-based teaching is of importance and educational value to medical students. It may play an increasingly prevalent role in education as virtual care is likely to become more prevalent.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daffalla A'lamElhuda ◽  
Leenah Mohammed S.M ◽  
Alamin Mustafa .E. M

Abstract Background: “Is COVID-19 pandemic the end of classical class room based education?” the most frequent question nowadays after the forced restrictions which included educational intuition lockdown، objectives, this paper aimed to study the perception of medical students towards virtual learning during COVID-19 pandemic at faculties of medicine at Alzaiem Alazhari and Khartoum universities in Sudan , 2021.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional faculty -based study in which self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 357 medical students at faculties of medicine at Alzaiem Alazhari university and university of Khartoum. Respondents were selected using simple random sampling, and data was analyzed using SPSS 26. Results: This study revealed that the average number of hours that spent on virtual learning before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were statistically significant (p<0.05), with average of 1.9 hours per day before the pandemic and average of more than 3 hours per day during the pandemic (57.9%) .Moreover, the majority of the participants 77.9% (n=279) thought that virtual learning did not successfully replace the face to face classical teaching especially the clinical medical students 87.2% (n=312) who claimed that clinical skills cannot be taught virtually and they need the direct patient contact education in order to practice the clinical skills in a proper way.Conclusion: Virtual learning in these two medical faculties was found to be well perceived, because its pros outweighed its cons, as it was the most appropriate method to use in order to continue the education process during the pandemic.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brekhna Jamil ◽  
Bilal Masood

Objectives: To assess the clerkship experiences and self-perceived competence of Undergraduate medical students in clinical and procedural skills at Bolan Medical College, Quetta, Balochistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Bolan Medical College, Quetta, Balochistan. Period: February 2016 to August 2016. Methodology: Undergraduate medical Students of 2nd, 3rd and final profession MBBS at Bolan Medical College, Quetta.Multistage stratified random sampling method was used; making a total sample size of 166. A self-administered questionnaire was used with item responses based on 4-point Likert Scale for the number of times a clinical skill was performed and 3-point Likert scale for the number of times a clinical skill competence was perceived by the performer respectively. The questionnaire contains mainly three parts. The first part mainly contained information on socio demographic data like age, gender, monthly income, marital status; student’s year of study and completed clinical clerkship. The second part contained information regarding clinical and procedural skills that is physical skills examination and the third part includes information about the number of times a clinical skill is performed and the competence achieved or not by the participant. SPSS version 16 was used to carry out the statistical analysis. Results: Among nine listed basic physical examination skills, both 2nd and 3rdproff students were having low exposure or experience i.e< 50% have performed the skills at least two times and among 12 listed procedural skills only 4thproff (final year) students were having high level of experience i.e ≥ 70% have performed the skills. Among 9 listed basic physical examination skills, only 4thproff (final year) students were having high level of competence i.e ≥ 70% reported to be very confident. Similarly among 12 listed procedural skills the 4thproff (final year) students were having high level of competence i.e ≥ 70% reported to be very confident. There was a strong positive linear correlation between level of exposure and self-perceived competence (r=0.92). Conclusion: The level of performing the basic physical skills and clinical procedures was low for majority of the variables. However, on several occasions an important clear connection was appeared performing physical skills and practical course of action and confidence level of students.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20210043
Author(s):  
Sarah Baillie ◽  
Annelies Decloedt ◽  
Molly Frendo Londgren

Flipped classroom is an educational technique in which content is delivered online for students to study at their own pace in preparation for in-class learning. Benefits include increased flexibility, enhanced student engagement and satisfaction, and more effective use of time spent during face-to-face teaching. However, the development and implementation of flipped classroom teaching are also associated with challenges, including time required to develop learning materials and getting students to engage with the preparatory work. This teaching tip describes a structured approach to designing and implementing the flipped classroom approach for clinical skills to allow a greater focus on practicing the hands-on skills and the provision of feedback during the laboratory session. First, the rationale for flipping the classroom and the expected benefits should be considered. On a practical level, decisions need to be made about what to include in the flipped component, how it will complement the face-to-face class, and how the resources will be created. In the design phase, adopting a structured template and aligning with established pedagogical principles is helpful. A well-designed flipped classroom motivates learners by including different elements such as quality educational media (e.g., videos), the opportunity to self-assess, and well-defined connections to relevant knowledge and skills. Student engagement with the flipped material can be promoted through different strategies such as clear communication to manage student expectations and adapting the delivery of the face-to-face component. Finally, gathering feedback and evaluating the initiative are important to inform future improvements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 291-311
Author(s):  
(Gwen) Kuan-ying Kuo

In early 2020, the unforeseen COVID-19 has brought the art world to its knees, particularly the contemporary art scene needs viewers and feedback to survive. Artists require new channels connecting them with their audiences, while artists’ work needs to be seen and appreciated by the public to sustain its value. In the face of social distancing restrictions and limited visitors, however, many international exhibitions are forced to cancel or postponed. With less to no patronage, will the global pandemic bring the end of the art world? As the global pandemic has forced most social and cultural events moving online, the art biennials are no exception. This article examines the art biennial, the Olympics of the art world, to rediscover the meaning of ‘art’ before and after COVID-19. Integrating virtual presentation and digital campaign between the Taipei Biennial and the Shanghai Biennale, the first running art biennials across the Taiwan Strait, this article analyses and presents the art world’s potential shifts in the post-pandemic future.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 309-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azim Mirzazadeh ◽  
Behrouz Bavarian ◽  
Ali Labaf ◽  
Ali Afshari ◽  
Mohammad Nikoo ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-58
Author(s):  
Gul Muhammad Shaikh ◽  
Rabia Khan ◽  
Rehan Khan ◽  
Rahila Yasmeen

Background: Academic failure adds extra pressure to emotional intelligence of students and this may lead to psychological disturbance. The objective of this study was to explore perception of students and teachers regarding academic failure of undergraduate medical students in Lahore, Pakistan. Materials & Methods: This qualitative exploratory study was conducted at Department of Medical Education, University College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Lahore, Pakistan from January 2018 to October 2018. Sample included nine MBBS students who took their last examination in year 2017 and five teachers, all from University College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Lahore. Sampling was purposive. These nine students included five who graduated without failure and four who experienced two/more failures. Medical students were interviewed via two focus groups, whereas face to face semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews were done for teachers. Interview questionnaires were designed on basis of attribution theory. The fundamental question of study was “What are the reasons behind undergraduate medical students’ failure in annual examination?” with five more questions. The interviews were transcribed in English and sent back to participants for member checking. The interviews were organized in ATLAS.ti software for thematic analysis based on Weiner’s Attribution Theory. Open coding was done after familiarization of data, leading to formation of categories, sub-themes and themes related to our conceptual framework. Results: 160 open codes were condensed to 35 axial codes leading to two themes. Main reasons for students’ failure in examinations perceived by both students and teachers were lack of ability, lack of effort and lack of motivation. Additionally, the students attributed bad luck to academic failure. Other factors included were teachers’ related factors, curriculum related factors and negative students’ attitude. Conclusion: Medical institutions must take into account reasons for academic failure among medical students and address those issues to improve their performance.


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