How A Graduate Nursing Program Implemented a Virtual Oral Examination during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2020, as the entire world, including the U.S., experienced the rapid restraints and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative teaching and assessment methods had to be utilized to achieve pre-pandemic goals and objectives of graduate education. This article describes how faculty implemented virtual oral exams as an assessment methodology to evaluate students' cumulative knowledge of essential women's health content. Course faculty administered a 25-minute virtual oral examination to students enrolled in a second-year advanced women's health course. All enrolled students (25 in 2020 and 19 in 2021) completed the virtual oral examination. The method was successfully implemented for two consecutive years, demonstrating the potential feasibility, applicability, and sustainability of implementing oral examinations utilizing the evaluation method in graduate education. This method assessed the students' critical thinking on essential aspects of care that they will eventually deliver to the public.