It matters how we do it: A review of best practices of Observed Structured Clinical Examination in pharmacy education

Objective: Since the introduction of the Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in medical education more than four decades ago, OSCEs have been adopted by a majority of healthcare professional education programmes, including pharmacy. This article aims to review the best practices as well as explore novel approaches to the use of OSCE in pharmacy education. Method: As with any assessment method, the development of OSCE stations starts with blueprinting. Personnel involved in the OSCE are briefed and adequately trained, based on their expertise and prior experience to ensure the efficient running of the OSCE as well as help maintain the reliability and validity of the assessment process. Conclusion: The OSCE assesses a range of clinical and communication skills, yet it is resource-intensive and requires extensive planning. However, it must be considered an important and essential means to develop and assess the skills required by the pharmacy graduates for safe future practice.

Physiopunk: Speculative fiction for future therapies

In light of today’s deeply connected social and environmental crises, environmental and sustainability education is increasingly being integrated into public health and healthcare professional education around the world (Barna, Maric, Simons, Kumar & Blankestijn, 2020). The Norwegian ‘regulations on national guidelines for physiotherapist education’ clearly support the integration of these topics by stating that ‘in addition to individually oriented work, physiotherapists should contribute to improving public health and the sustainability of society on the group and system-levels…with competencies in interdisciplinary and goal-oriented collaborations within the health- and care-sector and other sectors…to meet societies existing and future needs’ (Forskrift om nasjonal retningslinje for fysioterapeututdanning, 2019, our translation). In a new introductory public health module for our 1st year physiotherapy students at UiT Norges Arktiske Universitet we therefore integrated education about the social and environmental problems of our time and how they interact with health at many levels to inspire students to imagine novel futures for physiotherapy and the role of healthcare professionals in the future.