Students' and Examiners' Experiences of Their First Virtual Pharmacy Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sep 20, 2026

Upload by Bulrr

Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are routinely used in healthcare education programs. Traditionally, students undertake OSCEs as face-to-face interactions to assess competency in soft skills. Due to physical distancing restrictions during COVID-19, alternative methods were required. This study used a mixed-method design (online survey and interviews) to evaluate second-year pharmacy students' and examiners' experiences of their first virtual OSCEs in Australia.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Virtual OSCE rationale and adaptation during COVID-19

Methods and participants

Survey and interviews

Results

Student and examiner experiences

Barriers and perceived benefits

Discussion and future directions

Integration of face-to-face and virtual OSCEs

healthcare Article Students' and Examiners' Experiences of Their First Virtual Pharmacy Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic Vivienne Mak 1, *, Sunanthiny Krishnan 2 and Sara Chuang 1 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀁􀀄 􀀆􀀇􀀈 􀀁􀀂􀀃􀀄􀀅􀀆􀀇 Citation: Mak, V.; Krishnan, S.; Chuang, S. Students' and Examiners'Experiences of Their First Virtual Pharmacy Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Healthcare 2022, 10, 328 . [https://doi.org/10.3390/](https://doi.org/10.3390/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.3390/)healthcare10020328 Academic Editors: Lu½s Proença, Jos² Jo¢o Mendes, Jo¢o Botelho and Vanessa Machado Received: 31 December 2021 Accepted: 8 February 2022 Published: 9 February 2022 Publisher's Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional afﬁliations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . 1 Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; [sara.chuang@monash.edu](sara.chuang@monash.edu) 2 School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Subang Jaya 47500, Malaysia; [Sunanthiny.S.Krishnan@monash.edu](Sunanthiny.S.Krishnan@monash.edu) * [Correspondence: vivienne.mak@monash.edu](Correspondence: vivienne.mak@monash.edu) Abstract: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are routinely used in healthcare education programs. Traditionally, students undertake OSCEs as face-to-face interactions to assess competency in soft skills. Due to physical distancing restrictions during COVID-19, alternative methods were required. This study utilized a mixed-method design (online survey and interviews) to evaluate second-year pharmacy students' and examiners' experiences of their ﬁrst virtual OSCEs in Australia. A total of 196 students completed their ﬁrst virtual OSCE in June 2020 of which 190 students completed the online survey. However, out of the 190 students, only 88%(n = 167) consented to the use of the data from their online survey. A further 10 students and 12 examiners were interviewed. Fifty-ﬁve students (33%) who participated in the online survey strongly agreed or agreed that they preferred the virtual experience to face-to-face OSCEs while 44%(n = 73) neither agreed nor disagreed. Only 20%(n = 33) felt more anxious with the virtual OSCEs. Additionally, thematic analysis found non-verbal communication as a barrier during the OSCE. Positive aspects about virtual OSCEs included ﬂexibility, decreased levels of anxiety and relevance with emerging telehealth practice. The need for remote online delivery of assessments saw innovative ways of undertaking OSCEs and an opportunity to mimic telehealth. While students and examiners embraced the virtual OSCE process, face-to-face OSCEs were still considered important and irreplaceable. Future opportunities for OSCEsto be delivered both face-to-face and virtually should be considered. Keywords: e-learning; healthcare education; telehealth; OSCE; pharmacy; communication 1. Introduction Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) have been used routinely in healthcare education programs. Traditionally, students undertake OSCEs as face-to-face interactions to assess competency in soft skills including problem solving, empathy and communication. Students move through a circuit of purposely designed stations to assess them in a standardized simulated environment. At each station, students complete a clinical task within a predetermined time in the presence of a simulated patient. These simulated patients adhere to a strict script to ensure that each student i

FAQs

Why were virtual OSCEs needed during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Physical distancing restrictions during COVID-19 made traditional face-to-face OSCEs no longer possible, requiring alternative assessment methods.

How did the study evaluate experiences of the first virtual OSCE?

It used a mixed-method design with an online survey and interviews with second-year pharmacy students and examiners.

What advantages and barriers were reported for virtual OSCEs?

Students reported positive aspects such as flexibility, reduced anxiety, and relevance to emerging telehealth practice, while non-verbal communication was identified as a barrier.

Sep 20, 2026

Upload by Bulrr