Introduction The outbreak of COVID‐19 necessitated a move to online teaching and assessment. The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been an integral part of dental examinations for several decades. The COVID‐19 pandemic stopped face to face examinations around the world. An Online Virtual OSCE (VOSCE) was developed and piloted for dental undergraduate assessment. Materials and Methods This initial report outlines the steps required to run an OSCE online. Planning and preparation required in adaptation of an OSCE for the online environment is dreported. The necessity for familiarisation sessions is addressed, and VOSCE logistics described. Results With careful planning, the VOSCE is a useful assessment method in difficult times. Feedback from staff and students was favourable. Conclusion Although significant organisation was required, the examination process worked well for both students and examiners. Despite limitations in relation to technical dental procedures, the VOSCE could be a viable alternative to face to face clinical examination.

Introduction: COVID-19 has profoundly affected dental undergraduate teaching and assessment. The pandemic resulted in cessation of face-to face teaching and assessment in many countries, with an associated move online. Objective structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), an important modality for clinical assessment in dentistry and medicine, is not possible with pandemic restrictions in place. As a result, interest in virtual objective structured clinical examination (VOSCE) has been revived. Student and staff evaluation of any assessment process is important, where the views of all involved are required in establishment of authenticity. This papers aims to explore and describe the views of undergraduate dental students and staff in relation to VOSCE Materials and Method: Qualitative methods utilising online focus groups and video recording were used in this study. Five focus groups, involving 24 participants were undertaken.Results: Thematic analysis following a deductive semantic approach was carried out resulting in the identification of six themes relating to the VOSCE: VOSCE preconceptions, examination preparation, examination process, fairness, comparison with OSCE and possible improvements. Consideration of these themes, and their interaction, is likely to prove important for optimisation of this assessment modality.Conclusions: Overall, both staff and students considered the VOSCE a useful and fair examination and a suitable alternative to OSCE. The potential for a number of improvements in the assessment process was identified.

Background: Case presentation assessment is common in both medicine and dentistry and is known under various names depending on the country and institution. It relates mainly to aspects of diagnosis and treatment planning and is considered highly authentic and useful. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the movement of this assessment from face-to-face to online. The aim of this investigation was to explore the students’ impressions of the two different examination modalities. With this information, a decision on future diets of this examination can be made to accommodate the students’ perspectives. Methods: Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using an online, self-administered survey. Results: The students were split 50/50 regarding which assessment modality they preferred. Overall, they considered the online examination to be fair, and the majority agreed that the online format allowed them to display their knowledge as well as face-to-face. Conclusions: The delivery of case presentation examination is possible online. An online case presentation is a fair, useful, and authentic assessment that is appropriate to the needs of the faculty and students. Satisfaction with the two possible methods of conducting this assessment suggests it would be reasonable to conduct this examination online in the future.

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