STUDENT FEEDBACK ON THE OBJECTIVE STRUCTURED COMPONENT OF THE PRACTICALEXAMINA TION IN PHARMACOLOGY

Abstract

The study was planned to determine the attitude of undergraduate medical students
towards the objective structured practical examination (OSPE) in pharmacology and
to investigate any influence of sex, nationality and medium of instruction at school on
these attitudes. The second year undergraduate medical students of the Manipal college
of medical sciences, Pokhara, Nepal were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding
the spotters and communication skills component of the practical examination. Students
considered OSPE a good method of practical examination. The male students agreed
more strongly that the spotters develops the ability to choose an appropriate drug
while the female students were more in favour of OSPE over animal experimentation.
The Sri Lankan students were less in favour of the introduction of stations testing
skills as part of OSPE and also disagreed strongly with the point that communication
skills should be conducted in a language other than English. Based on these
observations, changes should be made in the teaching as well as evaluation
methodologies to maximize learning.