Subject making and evaluation method for objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in pharmaceutical practice

Abstract

The aim of this study was to discuss subject selection and the evaluation method for an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in pharmaceutical sciences. We designed the OSCE to assess pharmaceutical students' clinical ability. In this trial, there are three stations (STCircled digit one: dispensing powdered medicine, STCircled digit two: patient reception, STCircled digit three: drug counseling), and 25 students and six instructors participated. Each student took an examination at two stations, and evaluated other students at the other station. Each instructor evaluated the student at two stations. Before the evaluation, we developed a checklist that contained the items "evaluation of the quantity" of the action, "evaluation of the quality" of the skill and the attitude, and "overall evaluation" to ensure the standardization of scoring. After the OSCE trial, we calculated and analyzed each examinee's evaluation score. In STCircled digit one and STCircled digit three, the average time for performance exceeded the time limit (5 min). There was no significant relationship between the each examinee's evaluation score and the time at all stations. The evaluation point "evaluation of the quantity" did not differ among evaluators, but a difference was seen in the "evaluation of the quality." In addition, in the quantitative evaluation, there was a difference in the evaluation of the item for which the evaluator's judgment was necessary. Instructors' evaluations were more severer than students'. In the "overall evaluation," there was no significant relation between the quantitative evaluation score and the score of the overall impression. However, there was a significant relationship with the qualitative evaluation. From these results, for assignment making, it is necessary for examinees to finish the work within the time limit, and that the evaluation not affect the performance time. Additionally, it is necessary to standardize the evaluation to reduce differences among evaluators, who should be trained. Moreover, it was suggested that the selection of an appropriate evaluation system for each evaluation item is important in OSCE stations. © 2006 The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.