Perception of first-year medical students of virtual video demonstration of the objective structured clinical examination at king saud university medical college in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has challenged and disrupted medical education worldwide. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is one of the types of assessment for undergraduate medical students that has been conducted for first-year medical students in the College of Medicine. Peer student training on participating in OSCE has been conducted prior to the pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess medical students' perception of online virtual peer student video training on participating in the OSCE. Methods: Medical student's council team prepared a video demonstration on the steps of participating in OSCE. In October 2020, the video was provided online for first-year medical students (n = 302) prior to their OSCE. After the completion of the OSCE exam, a 10 – item questionnaire was distributed on the students' perception on the impact of the peer student video demonstration on students' orientation about the OSCE. The questionnaire was sent by Google Forms. The results were expressed as a percentage on a Likert scale. Results: About 74.17% (n = 224) of students responded to the online questionnaire. More than half of the students (n = 126, 56%) found the steps of conduction of the OSCE well explained, provided the sufficient orientation (n = 121, 54%), and found the video stimulating (n = 122, 54%). In addition, the majority of students (n = 160, 71%) learned and understood the steps of the OSCE and 152 students (68%) found that the video helped introducing them to the concept of OSCE. Almost half the students found that the video helped lowering the stress level before the OSCE (n = 91, 41%), eased the steps of the OSCE (n = 113, 50%), and found that the materials were well prepared and explained (n = 126, 56%). Conclusions: The virtual video demonstration of the OSCE during the COVID-19 pandemic had an overall positive perception from first-year medical students. However, peer student's orientation on the OSCE will continue after the pandemic. Further supports for first-year medical students are needed during the pandemic.