Teaching challenge posed/opportunity for innovation offered by the impact of the Covid 19 Pandemic
Early in the Covid Pandemic, the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition recognised that the traditional written final examination for 4th year medical students would need amending urgently before August 2020. A delay in assessment was not acceptable due to future workforce requirements, and an open book format did not meet the standards required. A solution was needed that enabled secure online question delivery with observation of, and interaction with, students completing the examination in multiple countries. As the lead educator for the final written exam, I created and led a multidisciplinary team to design and deliver a solution using existing university resources. Commercial options were unsuitable due to confidentiality, cost and time constraints.
In addition to practical planning and implementation, I addressed the fears of already stressed students about using a novel assessment format.
This project was the first of its kind to be successfully introduced in a UK medical school.