Renee Acosta
Renee’ Acosta is a Clinical Professor in the Pharmacy Practice Division and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Renee teaches extensively in the professional PharmD Program. Her primary instruction includes Nonprescription Pharmacotherapeutics and Self-Care I and II, and a UGS courses titled Self-Care and OTC Products. Her PTF project focused on the use of standardized patients in Objective Structured Clinical Exams(OSCEs).
Initiative
Use of Standard Patients in an Observed Structured Clinical Exam
The College of Pharmacy curriculum is designed for the students to begin with a foundation of knowledge that they then practice in a laboratory setting followed by application in a real world setting. This project will provide students in the Nonprescription Pharmacotherapeutics/Self-Care sequence opportunity to gain constructive feedback and more consistent practice of their skills prior to moving on to the Community Pharmacy - Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience in their third year and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience in their fourth-year.
Impacts
Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Performance Assessment of PharmD Student Pharmacists (AACP)
Dr. Acosta, Dr. Castleberry, and colleagues presented a poster at the July 2023 Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Aurora, Colorado. Their poster discussed the relationships between a student’s perceived preparedness before and after Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), OSCE grades, perception of their performance, pre-pharmacy and pharmacy GPAs, composite Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) score, and admission Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) scores.
Designing a Longitudinal Practice Lab Sequence Bridging Education and Practice (AACP)
Dr. Acosta, Dr. Castleberry, and Dr. Davis presented a poster at the July 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy in Grapevine, Texas. Their poster described the Pharmacy Practice Lab (PPL) sequence spanning all six semesters of the UTCOP didactic program to consolidate lab components and increase skills development while aligning with and reinforcing curriculum balance.
Standardized elements for OCSE
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, known as OSCEs, are a widely established assessment practice in Pharmacy education. PTF Renee Acosta created OSCE rubrics as part of her PTF initiative to help students gain constructive feedback and more consistent practice of their skills prior to moving on to future courses. Acosta's rubrics that have since been used as the foundation for future PTF projects and other OSCE rubrics used within department.
View the rubrics here.