Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the End-of-Phase 2 (EOP2) OSCE was modified from a 10-station in-person Summative OSCE to a 3-station tele-OSCE conducted virtually via Zoom.
The exam gave every student in the Class of 2021 an opportunity to practice the components of standardized patients (SP) encounter and clinical documentation in a telehealth format.
Some feedback from students included the following:
"Overall I thought this was a very positive experience in lieu of a regular OSCE. It was great experience for a field shifting toward telemedicine and very smoothly run. I think it was the perfect number of cases, providing enough experience to learn what I need to improve on without being repetitive or consuming an entire day."
"I feel the tele-OSCE was a great way to practice our patient communication given the current circumstances."
Dr. Paul Ko, Associate Dean for Curricular Development and Oversight added his perspectives,
"I believe the EOP2 Tele-OSCE was a great opportunity for our students to practice their communication and interpersonal skills, as well as their clinical reasoning skills in documentation. Furthermore, it provided students access to and experience in conducting patient encounters via telemedicine, an increasingly important medium in the administration of healthcare moving forward. Feedback provided by students from this experience will inform our school's efforts to continue to expand our tele-OSCE and telemedicine curriculum throughout all phases of the curriculum for future students to adapt to the changing healthcare environment."
