title: Introducing objective structured practical examination as a method of learning and evaluation for undergraduate pharmacology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Assessment method can influence student learning. Use of objective structured practical examination (OSPE) has been reported in various institutes with great benefits. We evaluated OSPE for the assessment of practical skills in pharmacology examination for undergraduate medical students and compared it with conventional practical examination (CPE).
  
  
  METHODS
  After sensitizing the 2ndyear MBBS students to OSPE, the students were divided into four batches with twenty students in each batch. Students were assessed by attending five OSPE stations, each for duration of 5 min. The effectiveness was assessed through a student's feedback questionnaire and was checked for its reliability by Cronbach's alpha. The result of OSPE was compared with that of CPE of the same batch.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cronbach's alpha of the feedback questionnaire was 0.71, with high internal consistency. The feedback given was categorized into three domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective, and an assessment was also done for its further use. In cognitive domain, 74% of the students felt that the questions asked and the syllabus taught were well correlated. In psychomotor domain, 81% agreed that it is excellent for assessing the applied part of the subject. Seventy percent of students opined that it was associated with lesser stress than CPE. On overall assessment, 76% rated this methodology as good/satisfactory and 23% as excellent in terms of better scoring. There was a significant difference in the mean score between the results of OSPE and CPE (P< 0.001, df = 158, confidence interval = 95%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OSPE is a feasible and skill enhancing tool for the assessment in pharmacology examinations for undergraduate students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, TMMC & RC, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Kirti
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vishwakarma
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, TMMC & RC, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Mukesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, TMMC & RC, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Prithpal Singh
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Matreja
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, TMMC & RC, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Vishal Prakash
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Giri
mesh_terms: D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010600:Pharmacology / Q000193:education*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers
keywords: Assessment; OSPE (Objective structured Practical Examination) is a feasible, meaningful and skill enhancing tool for assessment in pharmacology for undergraduate students. There are several benefits of OSPE as an assessment method including objectivity and uniformity in assessment of students.; feedback; objective structured practical examination; pharmacology; questionnaire; undergraduate