On completion of year 1 of the Master in Clinical Pharmacy (MCP) program, students performed OSCE as a quality check before beginning year 2 of rotations and thesis. Four stations in the OSCE were general and three stations were specific to their major specialty in infectious diseases, cardiology, and parenteral nutrition.
The four general stations were;
- Communication skills to pediatric patients
- Patient history interview
- Drug information
- Clinical decision making in antimicrobial stewardship with antimicrobial physician and nurse
Performance in each station was rated by faculty on site. All patients and healthcare professionals were standardized with rehearsals with a written script. Rubrics were validated by internal experts and the students were instructed well on what level of performance is expected from them and how it will be evaluated. Following 3 minutes of specific instruction in front of each station, students performed the required skills inside the stations for 7 minutes followed by 1-2 minutes of feedback.
Three specialty OSCE stations were solving complicated cases with advanced pharmacotherapy skills. Based on performance, students were provided feedback on areas of improvement.
Following OSCE, Dean Sherief Khalifa and Dr. Dixon Thomas conducted a focus group with the MCP students on areas of improvement and how students should be well prepared to proceed with their rotations and research.