Delivering a modified continuous objective structured clinical examination for ophthalmology residents through a hybrid online method

Abstract

Since coronavirus disease 2019 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, it has become a challenging situation to continue medical education, including in Indonesia. The situation prohibited face-to-face (direct) educational activities in clinical settings, therefore also postponing examinations involving especially procedural skills. Adaptations were urgently needed to maintain the delivery of high-stake examinations to sustain the number of ophthalmology graduates and the continuation of eye health service. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been one of our widely used method to assess clinical competencies for ophthalmology residents, and is the one method that involves gatherings, close contact of examiners, examinees and patients, therefore the most difficult to adjust. Pandemic challenges brought technical changes in our delivering the OSCE to online, maximizing digital platforms of meetings, while still concerned to guarding the safety of candidates, patients and staffs. OSCE scenarios were also made as timely efficient as possible by changing continuous station models to a cascade one. The purpose of this article is to document our experience in conducting a feasible and reproducible OSCE in this pandemic era filled with limitations.

Innovations in assessment in health professions education during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A scoping review

“…All but 10 studies reported assessment within a single institution. The remaining 10 were either board examinations or national (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) OSCEs of different countries 18–27 …”

“…Of the 44 articles reporting practical assessment, 32 were conducted online, 16,24,25,34,37,38,49,51–58,62,64–71,75–82 4 were conducted in person 36,59,60,63 and 8 used a hybrid format of assessment 17,21,23,26,61,72–74 . Several competencies such as professionalism, clinical reasoning and history‐taking were assessed using OSCE; however, none of the OSCE conducted online could assess hands‐on skills.…”

“…30,32,35,37,41,43 The perception of faculties regarding the innovations in assessment was mostly positive. The faculties felt that the mechanism of modified examination was appropriate for the pandemic 21 Case item creation 50 found the virtual examination fair and better than expected. 54 Faculties found virtual examinations easy to mark and more efficient 49 and did not experience any technical issues during the assessments.…”

Comparability of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) and Written Tests for Assessing Medical School Students’ Competencies: A Scoping Review

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person OSCE assessments were not possible, many health professional schools rapidly implemented online OSCEs as a substitute ( Hytönen et al, 2021 ; Jamil et al, 2022 ; Luke et al, 2021 ; Nusanti et al, 2021 ). While online OSCEs are modeled after in-person ones, the online format itself is a major change, and the number of stations or competencies tested may be altered; therefore, its validity and reliability are uncertain.…”

Radiography education in 2022 and beyond - Writing the history of the present: A narrative review

“… 96 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many face-to-face OSCEs were converted to an online or hybrid format. 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 Experiences from Nurse Practitioner students 102 were positive and it highlighted that the interactive Virtual OSCE was deemed an extremely effective tool for virtual evaluation of various clinical competencies. Similar positive findings were also echoed by Farrell et al.…”