Rafael Mesropyan, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of General Medicine, Associate Professor of the Department of Thoracic Surgery; and Armine Aslanyan, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Hygiene and Ecology; participated in the training course “V-OSCE-our digitalized tool designed for the Objective Structured Examination of Clinical Reasoning Skills of Medical Students” organized at the Petre Shotadze Medical Academy in Tbilisi on July 7-11, 2025. The European Accreditation Council for Continuing Professional Education (EACCME®) awarded university specialists with CME (ECMEC® s) credits.
V-OSCE (Objective Structural Clinical Exams) is a digitalized tool designed for the objective structured examination of clinical skills of medical students in the virtual domain. It is one of the most established and modern formats of medical education and assessment in the world.
Mesropyan, who is also the OSCE exam supervisor at YSMU, also participated in a similar course online in 2024, but during the business trip, having become more familiar with the nuances, advantages, and software capabilities of using virtual OSCE, he proposed introducing it at the YSMU Faculty of General Medicine as an additional method for assessing practical skills.
“Virtual OSCE has found wide application in many European countries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this method was created to replace traditional OSCE in quarantine conditions. However, due to its effectiveness, simple methodology, and objectivity, virtual OCC continued to be used in the post-COVID period as a virtual exam format for assessing practical skills. In many countries, virtual OSCE is used as an important component of final certification exams, along with traditional OSCE and test exams,” Mesropyan explains.
The necessity and prospects of introducing virtual OSCE as an additional assessment method in clinical departments were discussed in detail in the 2025 annual report of the YSMU Scientific Council by Professor Larisa Avetisyan, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs.
After numerous discussions, presentation to the Educational and Methodological Committee, as well as assessing the University’s capabilities and risks, the above-mentioned method was introduced and successfully applied in the multi-component assessment system of a number of departments of the 5th year of the Faculty of General Medicine in the second semester of the 2025-2026 academic year. The virtual OSCE exam is especially important in terms of assessing the student’s clinical mindset.
The introduction of this examination format is another important step in the continuous development and improvement of the Medical University, as well as in the process of internationalization.
According to the assessment of those responsible for education at YSMU, the use of the method is planned to be expanded to include many new clinical departments, which will contribute to assessing the practical skills of students in a larger proportion. This assessment format will further contribute to improving the quality of education and further aligning it with international standards.
