Design and validation of an OSCE for pharmacy students delivering nonprescription medicines care

The purpose of this research was to develop and administer a competency assessment of student performance that meets robust standards of validity and reliability using material specific to the domains relating to OTC medications and self care.; The competency assessment evaluated pharmacy students' abilities when they interacted with simulated patients in an OSCE format as they provided pharmaceutical care regarding nonprescription medication therapy. The instrument consisted of OSCE six cases with content consistent with ACPE, CAPE, and NABP documents. Many-facet Rasch analysis provided detailed information with which to evaluate construct underrepresentation, construct irrelevant, and evaluating student performances taking into account difficulty of case components, rating scale function of the scoring rubric, and judge leniency and severity.; The 42 items imbedded in OSCE cases were administered to 42 students who had completed their third year of pharmacy school. The four point scoring rubric and the 42 OSCE items met Rasch model category functioning, unidimensionality, and local independence requirements. Item separation was 2.51 and reliability 0.86 with item difficulty calibration values ranging from -0.90 to 1.61 logits supporting good measurement scale continuity and adequate construct representation. Student separation was 2.34 and reliability 0.85 with scores ranging from 1.25 to 3.07 where 1.0 was novice and 4.0 was distinguished performance. Judge ratings, while differing in severity, were internally consistent allowing the model to adjust for differences between judges.; Data supported that the scoring rubric functioned to capture increasing levels of student expertise, that case-specificity is a non-issue, and that the OSCE cases functioned reliably with substantial validity evidence to support their intended use.