eCurriculum and online assessment in clinical pharmacology & toxicology

Abstract

E-learning and online resources for Canadian medical students could be one of the most beneficial learning tools in this day and age. Limited expert faculty numbers and training in Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology (CPT) and the current pandemic have driven us to develop processes and evaluation metrics for automatic prescription parsing and marking using original software and evaluate the use and effectiveness of virtual OSCEs.

Over the course of this OER update, we worked on the development and testing methods of parsing written prescriptions to allow entirely computerized marking of prescription writing and other very short answer questions. We also completed our evaluation of virtual versus in-person testing methods. Updates include the following:

1. Successful integration of automatic prescription parsing using RegEx in ExamSoft to identify 7 unique parts of a written prescription.

2. Successful testing of prescription-writing scenarios with 10 medical students to help identify issues with identifying parts of a prescription. This led to the use of a ‘Replace Dictionary’ standardized file to solves issues for automated marking, including variability in prescription elements, misspelling, and non-responses.

3. Creation of additional prescription-writing cases to be used for further testing, and eventually, integrated into prescription-writing exams

4. Completed testing the development and process of running a virtual OSCE using SimulationIQ. A pilot virtual CPT OSCE was created and may be feasible for both synchronous and asynchronous assessment but continues to have technical difficulties.