Arekat Mona, Shehata Mohamed Hany, Deifalla Abdelhalim, Al-Ansari Ahmed, Kumar Archana, Alsenbesy Mohamed, Alshenawi Hamdi, El-Agroudy Amgad, Husni Mariwan, Rizk Diaa, Elamin Abdelaziz, Ben Salah Afif, Atwa Hani
Internal Medicine Department, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2022 Apr 28;13:407-418. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S357229. eCollection 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to profound restrictions on the face-to-face learning and assessment in all educational institutions, particularly the medical schools. The College of Medicine and Medical Sciences of the Arabian Gulf University (CMMS-AGU) conducted the final exams, both theoretical and clinical components, for its MD students online. This study was conducted to evaluate the utility of online clinical exams held at CMMS-AGU.
This is a cross-sectional, mixed method study that included samples from final year medical students, examiners, and heads of clinical departments. Data were collected through surveys, structured interviews, documents' review, and calculation of online examination's psychometrics. Descriptive statistics were used. Quantitative data were presented in the form of means and standard deviations. Responses of heads of clinical departments in the structured interview were transcribed and analyzed thematically based on three pre-established themes.
Quantitative and qualitative data on the utility (validity, reliability, acceptability, educational impact, and cost and feasibility) of online objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) were collected. Content validity of the online clinical examination was established through high mean scores of content representativeness, which was confirmed by the heads of clinical departments regarding the proper coverage of clinical skills. Criterion validity was established through a high correlation between clinical and theoretical exam results (r = 0.75). Reliability of the exam was established through an acceptable Cronbach's alpha value (0.70 to 0.78) over the four days of the examinations. The examinations were perceived as highly acceptable by both students and examiners. High educational impact was inferred from students' responses and review of documents. The examination was found to be feasible and of reasonable cost.
Online OSCE might be a good alternative of conventional clinical assessments in times of crises and impossibility of having in-person contact between students, examiners, and patients. An important major drawback is still present in such initiatives, which is the inability to assess students' physical examination skills.
新冠疫情导致所有教育机构，尤其是医学院，在面对面学习和评估方面受到严格限制。阿拉伯海湾大学医学院与医学科学学院（CMMS-AGU）为其医学博士学生在线进行了期末考试，包括理论和临床部分。本研究旨在评估CMMS-AGU举行的在线临床考试的效用。
这是一项横断面混合方法研究，样本包括医学专业最后一年的学生、考官和临床科室主任。通过调查、结构化访谈、文件审查以及计算在线考试的心理测量学数据来收集数据。使用描述性统计。定量数据以均值和标准差的形式呈现。结构化访谈中临床科室主任的回答进行了转录，并根据三个预先确定的主题进行了主题分析。
收集了关于在线客观结构化临床考试（OSCE）效用（效度、信度、可接受性、教育影响以及成本和可行性）的定量和定性数据。在线临床考试的内容效度通过内容代表性的高平均分得以确立，并得到临床科室主任关于临床技能适当覆盖范围的确认。效标效度通过临床考试成绩与理论考试成绩之间的高相关性（r = 0.75）得以确立。考试的信度通过考试四天内可接受的克朗巴哈系数值（0.70至0.78）得以确立。学生和考官都认为这些考试高度可接受。从学生的回答和文件审查中推断出具有很高的教育影响。发现该考试可行且成本合理。
在危机时期以及学生、考官和患者无法进行面对面接触的情况下，在线OSCE可能是传统临床评估的一个很好的替代方案。此类举措仍然存在一个重要的主要缺点，即无法评估学生的体格检查技能。
