A comparison between student performances on objective structured clinical examination and virtual simulation

Abstract

Objective: To compare the pharmacy students’ performance on an interactive web-based virtual pharmacy tool versus in-person objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Methods: The academic performance of fourth-year pharmacy students in patient interview, counseling and medication dispensing were assessed using MyDispense, a virtual pharmacy practice online case scenario, versus physical OSCE. The grades of the same students in both exams were compared, and the students were administered a questionnaire to explore their perception of virtual experience after completion of the exercise. The internal consistency and reliability of the case scenarios and questionnaire were examined by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Results: There was a significant increase (p = 0.01) in the average test scores of the virtual exam than the in-person OSCE. Similarly, female students had higher performance on virtual simulation than OSCE (p = 0.03). However, a comparison of the online MyDispense and OSCE assessment grades did not find a direct correlation (Spearman’s rho = 0.060). The results from the self-administered questionnaire demonstrated high students’ satisfaction and effective application of their knowledge through MyDispense for targeted patient interview, counseling and communication skills. Conclusion: The MyDispense virtual experience was well-perceived by the students as a useful online learning tool for pharmacy practice. However, there was no direct correlation between online and in-person OSCE assessment grades.