Reflective metacognition and objective structured clinical examination performance in introductory pharmacy practice experiences.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) allow for holistic evaluation of clinical competence, but integration of reflective practices on OSCE performance has not been well-studied.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: To develop metacognitive skills, second-year pharmacy students completed a self-reflection assignment on a mock medication therapy management OSCE in an introductory pharmacy practice experience course. Students who completed the course during the prior year (no self-reflection assignment) served as the control. The study assessed the correlation of students' reflections of their OCSE abilities to OSCE performance and evaluated if student demographics influenced the correlation.

FINDINGS: There were 107 students in the control group and 95 students in the intervention group. A higher proportion of students passed the overall OSCE in the control group (67.4%) compared to the intervention group (58.9%), but this was not statistically significant. Neither gender, age, nor Pharmacy College Admissions Test score had an effect on OSCE pass rates. Grade point average did have a significant effect on OSCE pass rates (P = .019). Overall, no statistically significant association was seen in summative OSCE performance between students who used structured, guided questions to reflect on their formative OSCE performance and those who did not (P > .05).

SUMMARY: Despite this study's results, faculty continue to embrace the concept of reflective practice. Further research is needed to assess the value and role of reflective practice in pharmacy education.