The following are my personal observations after training internationally trained pharmacists (IPG’s) for eight years. The following comments are in no particular order, and I will submit further comments at a later date.

1. Make sure you are completely familiar with the requirements of the PEBC. You should study the PEBC website at www.pebc.ca.

   Most of the OSCE stations require you to solve a problem. There might be several issues at the station: a communication issue (e.g., an angry patient) and a therapeutic issue. Alternatively, you might encounter an ethical problem (a MD self-prescribing) and a communication issue. You must solve both issues within 7 minutes.

   The problems presented at the OSCE stations are no different than what you would encounter working everyday at a typical Canadian pharmacy. They are not complicated since they require you to solve the problem within 7 minutes.

   The assessors in each station are looking for the application of your clinical and therapeutic knowledge to real life situations. You might know more about diabetes or hypertension than any pharmacist or doctor, but if you cannot help a patient with their healthcare needs, you will fail the station.

   Remember when you enter a station, the most important person in the world, at that moment, is the PATIENT. You must do everything you can to help the patient. Always put the needs of the patient above everything else. I cannot emphasise this enough.

2. If you can work in a Canadian pharmacy for several weeks or months as a pharmacy technician or even as a volunteer, this would help you enormously. If you can find a pharmacist that will mentor and coach you, this will help as well.

   One of the difficulties of IPG’s is that they have never worked in a Canadian pharmacy or seen how a Canadian pharmacist works. I cannot underestimate the value of this.

3. Make certain you work on your spoken and written English. If this is a problem, there are many organizations throughout Canada that will help you with your English. If the patient or doctor does not understand you, then you will not be successful. When I read some of the OSCE forums or I talk to IPG’s over the phone, I can tell which IPG’s struggle with English.

4. Make certain you become familiar with Over-The-Counter (OTC’s) in Canada. You should go into a pharmacy and look at all the ingredients at many OTC products. Make sure you know which ingredients you would recommend and why. You will definitely have an OTC station in the OSCE.

5. You will have a non-interactive (NI) station. You will be required to check prescriptions or write how you would handle a certain situation (e.g. a prescription error). You might have to check the dosage of a medication for a child.

6. Make certain you are completely familiar with the ethical terms since you will encounter at least one ethical situation (e.g autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, veracity, paternalism, justice etc).These can be tricky.

7. Make certain you know how to use the Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS) and any reference that might be on the table. If you don’t have to consult a reference, don’t waste time looking through a book. This can take valuable time. You do not get marks for looking in a book!

8. Form a study group of 2-3 people if necessary. Practice role playing certain situations. The only problem with a study group is that you might not know when you need guidance or help. It is like taking golf or tennis lessons from someone who doesn’t know how to play golf or tennis. It might give you a false sense of security.

9. Make certain you know Canadian (national) drug laws (jurisprudence) NOT provincial laws. These can be found in the Appendix of the CPS. You will definitely encounter a jurisprudence problem somewhere in OSCE. You might be asked if you can put repeats on a particular prescription.

10. Make sure that you learn to relax prior to and during the OSCE. It is a stressful day. I have seen more people fail because of ‘nerves’ than anything else. I have trained many pharmacists that are excellent in every respect but then they get so nervous, they cannot process information. Teach yourself deep breathing exercises to help you relax.

    Try to pretend that these stations are very similar to what you would encounter on a daily basis in a Canadian pharmacy.

There are a lot of myths to be dispelled about the OSCE which would take me too long to describe. There is a lot of good information in www.pharmacyintern.ca including what study books to use.

I have only scratched the surface of the OSCE but I will end here for now. If you would like me to address a particular topic or subject, you can email me at .

Paul