Virtual physical assessment training during the COVID-19 pandemic - student pharmacists’ performance & perceptions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted pharmacy education and caused significant transformation in student learning and assessment. Pharmacy PA faculty transformed the traditional PA teaching and practicum to virtual utilising Zoom. PA practicum consists of demonstration of a set of short videos, followed by students identifying incorrect techniques, describing the correct technique, and the purpose of the specific PA skill. After completion of the virtual PA practicum examination, students were invited to complete a 20-item survey about their perceptions. Most students preferred blended learning (56.8%) format over in-class, even though students performed significantly better on the traditional practicum (0.89+0.13) rather than the virtual (0.84+0.11). Hands-on skills are an integral part to PA instruction and learning, making innovations in virtual delivery and assessment vital for student success. This pandemic gave opportunities to explore curricular innovations as our virtual formats provided alternative approaches to review and summative assessment of PA.

COVID-19-Driven Improvements and Innovations in Pharmacy Education: A Scoping Review

“…Seven of the studies specifically surveyed students' opinions relating to in-person versus virtual skills-based labs [13,15,16,[18][19][20]23]. Three of the studies indicated that students felt less stressed during virtual lab simulations, while one study showed that although students had more time to prepare, most still felt an increase in stress levels during virtual skills-based lab simulations.…”

“…In the article by Farahani et al, more than 95% of participants stated that more instructional videos should be included within all lab-based classes [24]. Three of the studies reported telehealth as a theme and noted the benefit and importance of being able to mimic emerging telehealth practices in pharmacy practice using web conferencing platforms [16,18,21]. Only one study focused on students' opinions relating to virtual versus in-person learning after returning to in-person learning, and students in this study expressed a strong preference for in-person labs after having virtual labs the previous year [22].…”

“…Two of the studies assessed the impact of offering virtual lab classes on course learning outcomes and scores by comparing student cohort performance in pre-pandemic in-person classes versus in virtual classes delivered during the pandemic classes [14,16]. These studies reported conflicting findings.…”