Objective structured practical examination in experimental physiology increased satisfaction of medical students

Abstract

Background Medical education is a dynamic process and needs to be improved to meet the new expectation from medical practitioners, health worker and community. An important part of medical student’s education is selection of an appropriate assessment method. The objective structured practical examination (OSPE) can evaluate practical capabilities in suitable step-wise, scientific, targeted and scheduled manner with direct consideration of student’s execution during programmed test stations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the outcomes of the OSPE utilization versus traditional practical examination (TPE) for evaluating students in experimental physiology.Material and Methods A total 120 second year medical students for experimental physiology exam were entered in this study: 1. TPE group (TPE used as a final exam; n=40); 2) TPE + OSPE group (TPE applied for half of topics and OSPE for another half; n=41); and 3. OSPE group (OSPE performed as a final exam; n=39). In order to evaluate the effect of OSPE, the average of final grade of studied groups were compared. In addition, a 5 points Likert scale questionnaire, consisting of 10 questions was used to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the student’ s attitude on the used method.Results Obtained results showed that the total grade in TPE group was significantly higher in comparison to TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups (respectively P<0.01 and P<0.05), while according to student’s expression, the average score for all of items in feedback questionnaire was increased significantly in TPE+OSPE and OSPE groups compared with TPE group (P<0.001).Conclusion In summary, feedback from students showed, they were in favor of OSPE compared with the TPE and regarding their expressions in feedback questionnaire OSPE can improve learning in physiology and increase students’ satisfaction.

OSPE for non‐surgical aesthetic training programme

“…Although OSPE has long been used in several basic sciences and clinical medicine domains [13][14][15][16] Questions based on clinical scenarios help promote critical thinking and reasoning.…”

“…Although OSPE has long been used in several basic sciences and clinical medicine domains 13–16 until yet, no other research has shown its effectiveness for NSA postgraduate programmes. Our current work establishes OSPE as a reliable tool for evaluating NSA trainees' clinical facial anatomy knowledge.…”