Pharmacy OSCEs: A revision guide

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Prescriptions can be pre-dated (for a time in the future) but should not usually be post-dated (to cover a period of use in the past) unless there are exceptional circumstances. For example, pharmacists can make supplies of medication legally if there is an agreement for a prescription to be written within the next 24 hours. Many times as a junior prescriber you may be asked to sign a prescription, however, not every healthcare professional has the authority to prescribe every medication. For example, junior doctors can not prescribe chemotherapy. During the signing of the prescription, it is important that enough information is provided to create a record of which healthcare professional is authorising the supply or administration of a medication. This enables prescribing practices to be audited and ensure that poor practices are identified. There are often no clinical signs present in patients with ED, although in some cases male genital examination may reveal structural abnormalities of the penis. It is essential to counsel patients on the appropriate practice of PDE-5 inhibitors – take on an empty stomach 30 minutes prior to intercourse, avoid alcohol and fatty meals as it reduces drug absorption. Record the patient’s current and past smoking history, including the type and amount of tobacco used.

Parks, R; Warren, P M; Boyd, K M; Cameron, H; Cumming, A; Lloyd-Jones, G (2006). "The Objective Structured Clinical Examination and student collusion: Marks do not tell the whole truth". Journal of Medical Ethics. 32 (12): 734–738. doi: 10.1136/jme.2005.015446. PMC 2563344. PMID 17145916. interacting with a “Standardized Patient” or “Standardized Client” or “Standardized Health Professional” to resolve a drug therapy problem or ethical dilemma a b c Khan, Kamran Z.; Ramachandran, Sankaranarayanan; Gaunt, Kathryn; Pushkar, Piyush (2013). "The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): AMEE Guide No. 81. Part I: An historical and theoretical perspective". Medical Teacher. 35 (9): e1437–e1446. doi: 10.3109/0142159X.2013.818634. ISSN 0142-159X. PMID 23968323. S2CID 28150274. The assessment of pharmacy students’ readiness to begin the education of an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in clinical pharmacy settings continues to gain increasing attention. This study aimed to develop an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in the core domains acquired through an introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE), for evaluating its appropriateness as a tool of assessing clinical pharmacist competency for APPEs in Korean pharmacy students throughout a pilot study. Methods Prescriptions represent a request from one healthcare professional to another to administer or supply medication to or for a patient. Some medications do not require a prescription as they are considered safe enough for patients to use without professional supervision and these are legally classified as general sale list medications (GSL). Medications that are considered less safe and require supervision by healthcare professionals are classified as prescription only medications, referred to as POMs and can only be used under the supervision of a prescribing healthcare professional. Anything that is not a GSL or POM is classified as a pharmacy medication or P medicine, which is only available under the supervision of a pharmacist.

How is an OSCE implemented?

Most hospitals and universities have clinical skills labs where students have the opportunity to practice clinical skills such as taking blood or mobilizing patients in a safe and controlled environment. It is often very helpful to practise in small groups with colleagues, setting a typical OSCE scenario and timing it with one person role playing a patient, one person doing the task and if possible, one person either observing and commenting on technique or even role playing the examiner using a sample mark sheet. Many OSCE textbooks have sample OSCE stations and mark sheets that can be helpful when studying in the manner. In doing this the candidate is able to get a feel of running to time and working under pressure. Ask if the patient has any drug allergies and clarify what happens when the patient takes the medication. Make sure to document allergies clearly in the patient’s record. During sexual intercourse, how often were you able to maintain your erection after you had penetrated your partner? If a medication is suspected to be the cause of the ED, consider substitution or withdrawal of this substance for 2 weeks and review the effect. Psychosexual counselling Rosen RC, Cappelleri JC, Smith MD, Lipsky J, Peñ BM. Development and evaluation of an abridged, 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) as a diagnostic tool for erectile dysfunction. Int J Impot Res. 1999;11(6):319–26.

Figure 1. Cross-sectional anatomy of the penis. 7 Note the three bodies of erectile tissue (corpus cavernosum x2 and corpus spongiosum), which fill with blood upon sexual arousal. Location: The location for the exam should recreate a real clinical encounter. The testing area should be illustrated with a diagram that clearly depicts the stations and flow patterns. The bell to indicate the time for station change should be audible throughout the examination centre. Local formulary – developed by local and regional drug and therapeutics committees and usually available online Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE), which assess practical skills, knowledge and/or interpretation of data in non clinical settings. You may not be feeling very confident during your OSCE, but pretend you are! Stand up straight, smile when appropriate and speak loudly and clearly – being too apprehensive can give the impression you don’t really know what you’re doing and make the patient nervous too.

Examination Day

The development of OSCE is credited to Prof. Ronald Harden. Since the publication of the first paper in the British Medical Journal in 1975, OSCE has been widely adopted in many medical schools and professional bodies. The format of OSCE is continuously evolving and may include real or simulated patients, clinical specimens, and other clinical materials. OSCE is primarily used to assess focused clinical skills such as history taking, physical examination, diagnosis, communication, and counseling. [3] a b c Amin, Zubair; Eng, Khoo Hoon (2009). Basics in Medical Education (2ed.). WORLD SCIENTIFIC. doi: 10.1142/7044. ISBN 978-981-283-538-3. Laumann EO, Glasser DB, Neves RCS, Moreira ED. A population-based survey of sexual activity, sexual problems and associated help-seeking behavior patterns in mature adults in the United States of America. Int J Impot Res. 2009;21(3):171–8.