The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the learning outcomes of medical students in Taiwan: A two-year prospective cohort study of OSCE performance

Tzyy Yurn Tzeng, Chia An Hsu, Ying Ying Yang*, Eunice J. Yuan, Ya Ting Chang, Tzu Hao Li, Chung Pin Li, Jen Feng Liang, Jiing Feng Lirng, Tzeng Ji Chen, Chia Chang Huang, Ming Chih Hou, Chen Huan Chen, Wayne Huey Herng Sheu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background/Aims: To avoid the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical clerkship, supplemental teachings such as digital materials in the scenario-based distal simulations were implemented. This study utilized the OSCE (objective-structured clinical examination) to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the learning outcome of medical students from the regular group (class of 2020) and pandemic-impacted group (class of 2021). Methods: All medical students serially took, firstly, the mock-OSCE, secondly, the mock-OSCE, and the national OSCE. Then, the serial OSCE scores were compared between groups. Results: Although with similar scores in the first mock OSCE, the regular group (n = 78) had a higher average score in the national OSCE than the pandemic-impacted group (n = 80) (872.18 vs. 834.96, p = 0.003). In terms of improvement, the performances of the regular group were also better than the pandemic-impacted group between the second mock OSCE and the national OSCE (79.10 vs. 38.14, p = 0.014), and between the second mock OSCE and the national OSCE (125.11 vs. 77.52, p = 0.003). While separating distinct genres, the regular group had more of a score increment in standardized patient-based stations between the second mock OSCE and the national OSCE (regular vs. pandemic-impacted: 57.03 vs. 18.95, p = 0.003), as well as between the first mock OSCE and the national OSCE (75.97 vs. 26.36, p < 0.001), but there was no significant difference among the skill-based stations. In particular, the scores of the emergency medicine associated station in the national OSCE of the pandemic-impacted group was lower. Conclusions: Our study implies that the pandemic significantly hampered the learning outcomes of final year medical students in their clinical participation. Especially facing the COVID-19 pandemic, more supplemental teachings are needed to compensate the decreasing emergency medicine exposure.

Original languageEnglish
Article number208
JournalInternational journal of environmental research and public health
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Medical students
  • OSCE (objective structured clinical examination)
  • Standardized patient
  • Supplemental teaching

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