Abstract
Background: Utilization of standardized patients (SPs) in academic medicine is well known, but little has been done with SPs in pharmaceutical education. We present a new application for SPs in pharmacy education, and discuss how resources, costs, and expertise may be shared between the two academic disciplines to maximize SP use. Description: We developed a "pharmacy Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)" used to evaluate clinical skills associated with pharmacy education and practice. The SPs in pharmacy were more standardized participants, because they could portray a physician, nurse, or patient. Program development, evaluation, and implementation was accomplished in conjunction with the college of medicine's SP program. Evaluation: Comparable to academic medicine's OSCE experience, interrater reliability data showed good to excellent agreement between raters and Cronbach's coefficient alpha ranged between 0.54 and 0.79. Conclusions: This program represents another use of medical SPs that can benefit both academic disciplines. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 10(3), 178-182