Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
This page provides students and examination-team members with guidance and resources related to the Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Community Pharmacy Field Training.
The OSCE is a competency-based assessment designed to evaluate students’ ability to apply pharmaceutical knowledge, clinical reasoning, communication, patient counselling, professional behaviour and ethical decision-making in simulated pharmacy-practice situations.
OSCE Objectives
The OSCE is designed to assess students’ ability to:
Understand and respond appropriately to simulated pharmacy-practice situations.
Apply pharmaceutical and clinical knowledge to patient-specific cases.
Provide accurate, structured and person-centred medication counselling.
Identify medication errors, interactions, contraindications and patient-safety concerns.
Recognise situations requiring referral or communication with another healthcare professional.
Communicate clearly and respectfully with patients and caregivers.
Demonstrate professionalism, empathy, confidentiality and ethical conduct.
Make safe and appropriately justified pharmacy-practice decisions.
Examples of OSCE Stations
OSCE stations may include:
Patient counselling for prescribed medicines.
Counselling on non-prescription medicines and minor ailments.
Prescription interpretation and clinical review.
Identification of medication errors, drug interactions or contraindications.
Missed-dose counselling.
Appropriate referral of patients presenting with warning symptoms.
Medication-safety scenarios.
Communication with patients or caregivers.
Demonstration of an inhaler, insulin pen or glucose-monitoring device.
Hospital-pharmacy scenarios, including high-alert medicines or medication reconciliation, where applicable.
The examples listed above are provided for general preparation and do not represent confidential examination content.
Student Preparation Instructions
Students are advised to:
Review the approved training manual and associated learning resources.
Practise patient counselling using a clear and structured approach.
Review common medicines, indications, doses, adverse effects, interactions and counselling points.
Review common non-prescription cases and referral criteria.
Practise prescription interpretation and medication-safety assessment.
Use clear, respectful and person-centred language.
Review the approved counselling checklist and assessment guidance.
Apply knowledge to patient-specific situations instead of memorising counselling statements.
Arrive on time and follow all examination, confidentiality and professional-conduct instructions.