Malhotra Supriya D, Shah Kartik N, Patel Varsha J
Department of Pharmacology, Smt. NHL Municipal Medical College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2013 Sep 30;2:53. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.119040. eCollection 2013.
Assessment for practical skills in medical education needs improvement from subjective methods to objective ones. An Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) has been considered as one such method. This study is an attempt to evaluate the feasibility of using OSPE as a tool for the formative assessment of undergraduate medical education in pharmacology.
Students of second year MBBS, at the end of the first term, were assessed by both the conventional practical examination and the Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE). A five-station OSPE was conducted one week after the conventional examination. The scores obtained in both were compared and a Bland Altman plot was also used for comparison of the two methods. Perceptions of students regarding the new method were obtained using a questionnaire.
There was no significant difference in the mean scores between the two methods (P = 0.44) using the unpaired t test. The Bland Altman plot comparing the CPE (conventional practical examination) with the OSPE showed that 96% of the differences in the scores between OSPE and CPE were within the acceptable limit of 1.96 SD. Regarding the students' perceptions of OSPE compared to CPE, 73% responded that OSPE could partially or completely replace CPE. OSPE was judged as an objective and unbiased test as compared to CPE, by 66.4% of the students.
Use of OSPE is feasible for formative assessment in the undergraduate pharmacology curriculum.
医学教育实践技能评估需要从主观方法向客观方法改进。客观结构化实践考试（OSPE）被认为是这样一种方法。本研究旨在评估将OSPE用作本科药理学医学教育形成性评估工具的可行性。
在第一学期末，对医学学士二年级的学生进行了传统实践考试和客观结构化实践考试（OSPE）。在传统考试一周后进行了一场有五个考站的OSPE。比较了两种考试获得的分数，并使用布兰德-奥特曼图对两种方法进行比较。通过问卷调查了解学生对新方法的看法。
使用不成对t检验，两种方法的平均分数没有显著差异（P = 0.44）。比较传统实践考试（CPE）和OSPE的布兰德-奥特曼图显示，OSPE和CPE分数差异的96%在1.96标准差的可接受范围内。关于学生对OSPE与CPE的看法，73%的学生回答OSPE可以部分或完全取代CPE。66.4%的学生认为与CPE相比，OSPE是一种客观且无偏倚的考试。
在本科药理学课程的形成性评估中使用OSPE是可行的。
