Paul Marvin T. Quizon, Monet M. Loquias, Christine Aileen M. Ching
Objective: An objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was used for the first time in Dispensing and
Incompatibilities laboratory at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Pharmacy. It is believed that traditional methods of assessment may not adequately evaluate the competencies acquired by the students in the said course. This paper described the conduct of the OSCE and the results, evaluation and recommendations for future improvement were also presented.
Methods: The teaching team identified the topics and skills to be covered and prepared a test blueprint for the examination. Thirteen stations were prepared with a time
allotment of 5 min per station. The examination was administered to 71 students enrolled in Dispensing and Incompatibilities at the end of the second semester, academic year 2010‐2011. During the OSCE, students rotated to designated stations where they were asked to perform certain tasks such as counsel/instruct a patient, answer a series of questions or solve computational problems. An evaluation questionnaire was sent to the students via email. The scores and evaluation of the students were encoded, processed and analyzed with Microsoft Office Excel 2007.
Results: Only 33.8% of the student population passed the given examination. Majority of the respondents commented that the time allotment of 5 min was inadequate most especially for the action stations. The question pertaining to the adequacy of time allocated per station, obtained the lowest mean score of 2.12. Most of the students who completed the questionnaire agreed that the OSCE adequately evaluated their competencies and that they would recommend the OSCE as an assessment tool for future batches.
Conclusion: Although the passing rate for the examination was low, the use of OSCE in Dispensing and Incompatibilities laboratory was recommended by the students. It was also effective in assessing competencies acquired by the students but the suggestions and recommendations for its improvement must be considered.
