Team-Based Decision-Making in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE): Are Pre-Licensure Healthcare Students "Collaborative Practice-Ready"?

Evaluation of pre-licensure students' competency in team-based decision-making is lacking. The purposes of this study were to evaluate pre-licensure pharmacy students' competency in team-based decision-making in the context of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), and to determine whether performance correlated with reflective assignment scores. Students' self-assessment and conceptualization of team-based decision-making in practice was also evaluated. Twenty-three pre-licensure pharmacy students' competency in team-based decision-making was evaluated in an OSCE station and with a reflective journal assignment; rubric scores for both evaluations were compared using Spearman's rank order analysis. Students completed an 18-item questionnaire regarding attitudes, confidence, and perceptions related to team-based decision-making. Descriptive statistics and construct analysis with open coding were used to analyse questionnaire results. Mean OSCE station and reflective journal scores were 45% and 66.3%, respectively, and were not correlated. Students' attitudes toward team-based decision-making were positive, and they reported performing associated behaviours during experiential education rotations. Students appropriately defined 'team-based decision-making' and were highly confident in performing related activities. However, students' conceptualization of team-based decision-making did not align with the pharmacy program's competency framework. Three key themes were identified through the study analyses: 1) student performance is dependent on assessment context when evaluating collaborator-related competencies; 2) there is a mismatch between students' perceived competency and objectively measured competence when collaborator outcomes were assessed within an OSCE; and 3) students' perceptions of team-based decision-making do not align with the program's competency framework. Future research is necessary to assess competency and perceptions of team-based decision-making in students from other healthcare professions, and to further evaluate whether pre-licensure students are "collaborative practice ready".