Industry recognition is always appreciated, particularly in the fast moving arena of technology, and the critical sector of healthcare. We are thrilled to receive two more award nominations in 2019, from the Irish Healthcare Awards. The nominations are for Best Use of IT and Excellence in Healthcare Management.  Hosted by the Irish Medical Times, the Irish Healthcare Awards celebrates its 18th year as Ireland’s leading medical awards. Winners will be announced at an awards evening in Dublin in November 2019.

 

Topics: eAssessment, osces, eosces, digitalscoring, programming, clinical skills assessment, mmi, awards

We are delighted to share more good news from Galway in 2019. Qpercom has been awarded a national tender in Norway to deliver Qpercom Observe to higher education institutions. The tender represents the four major universities in Norway; University of Oslo, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University of Tromsø (The Arctic University of Norway) and the University of Bergen. It may also include UNIT, the Norwegian Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research. The successful outcome of the Norwegian tender comes just after winning the prestigious e-Assessment Award for Best Use of Summative Assessment for Observe.

Topics: eAssessment, osces, eosces, digitalscoring, nationaltender, norway, tender, clinical skills assessment, bid

The e-Assessment Association recently hosted their international award programme, the e-Assessment Awards in London. The association highlights advancements in e-assessment across all sectors and industries. We are thrilled to announce Qpercom was selected as winner for ‘Best Use of Summative Assessment 2019’. Winners were selected from a group of global assessment providers by a panel of highly experienced, international experts.

 

Topics: eAssessment, osces, eosces, digitalscoring, product award, industry award

We are delighted to report Qpercom Observe, our digital OSCE solution has been nominated for the Best Use of Summative Assessment Award 2019. The International e-Assessment Awards are presented by the e-Assessment Association annually. It is a great honour to be nominated alongside such innovative and market-leading assessment providers. We are thankful to the e-Assessment Association for taking the time to get to know Observe and review the role of Observe in Summative Assessment in medical education.

Topics: eAssessment, osces, eosces, digitalscoring, product award, industry award

Dissemination of research findings often takes a long time. However, we are very pleased our research was noticed and published in Ronald Harden's 'Definitive Guide to the OSCE', an important book for those working in the field of medical education (page 147 (ISBN: 978-0-7020-5550-8)). 

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, osces, objective structured clinical examinations, medical education research, communication skills, medical education, ronald harden

When Qpercom developed it's unique Observational Management Information System (formerly OMIS, now Observe) in 2007, it very much used a ‘bottom up’ procedure. This is analogous to how module coordinators and exam administrators developed their assessment stations according to the so called ‘check list approach’. This approach is very much focused on ticking the boxes of an item list similar to the lower technology (paper) forms that were used in those days.

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, competency based assessment, evidence based training, curriculum mapping, competency frameworks, qpercom observe feature, competency management system, qpercom observe, osces

On Friday, 26^th February 2016, Qpercom participated successfully in the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) School of Medicine’s multi-site Year 4 Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). New from the previous year’s OSCE was the opening of the Clinical Skills Suites at Sligo General Hospital Medical Academy.

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, osces, osce setup, student feedback, multi-examiner assessment, electronic assessment, objective structured clinical examinations, eosces, digital scoring technology

 

In December 2015, Winny Setyonugroho defended his thesis 'The Assessment of Communication Skills During OSCEs: Development and Trialed Implementation of a New Standardised Model Using the MAAS-Global Instrument'. According to the external examiner Dr Marc van Nuland:

"This thesis is original in its introduction of a calibration process for OSCE checklist instruments. This certainly is a valuable contribution to the knowledge and scholarship within the domain of medical education. Further on, researching the effect of having a different first language on the results of communication assessment in OSCE is also of special interest. It is valuable that the candidate has tried to explain the observed differences of students with a different first language compared to native English speaking students from the perspective of the Theory of Working Memory."

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, osces, objective structured clinical examinations, big data, analysis, phd, communication skills, medical research, medical education

Multiple Examiners

Unique to Qpercom Observe, the OSCE management information system, are the new Multiple Examiners/Multiple Scenario enhancements. We have frequently read about research empowering the Standardized Patient (SP) to play an important role in examining parts of student’s competence. Only the patient experiences the effects of interpersonal communication, empathy and other aspects that need to be observed and at times marked.

 

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, osces, objective structured clinical examinations, medical education, new software rollout, multiple examiners assessment

Research Paper:

Setyonugroho W, Kennedy KM and Kropmans TJB. "Reliability and validity of OSCE checklists used to assess the communication skills of undergraduate medical students: A systematic review". Patient Education and Counseling, 2015. [5-Year Impact Factor: 2.975]  doi:10.1016/j.pec.2015.06.004

Topics: eAssessment, clinical assessment, osces, objective structured clinical examinations, phd, communication skills, medical research, medical education, communication skills assessment