Effectiveness of a blended viva format in cardiovascular physiology for first-year MBBS students: An initial report

Background Objective: Oral examinations or viva is a common mode of assessment for medical students. It is not possible to cover the entire syllabus and students often feel that the “luck factor” plays a major role in deciding their performance. Efforts have been made to address these shortcomings associated with traditional viva exams, mainly by attempting to formulate a format which is both objective as well as structured. With this background, aim of the present study was to create an objective structured viva questions in cardiovascular physiology as a prototype of viva voce in physiology. Materials Methods: The study included creation of an Objective Structured Viva Examination (OSVE) question bank in cardiovascular physiology. The first year medical (MBBS) students were randomized by use of random number table and attended all three formats of theory viva (OSVE, traditional blended) on designated dates and time slots. Feedback was obtained from the participants using standard format and the feedback from faculty involved in the study was collected in a qualitative format at the end of the assessment. Results: There was significant difference in the mean value of marks obtained by the students in the OSVE format when compared to traditional and blended format (p 0.05). No correlation was observed between marks scored between the three formats of viva. Student’s feedback revealed that OSVE format was well structured and easy to score marks when compared to other formats. Faculty feedback revealed that OSVE format was less time consuming as compared to the other formats. Conclusion: Since there was no correlation between performance of students in the three formats of viva, each type of viva format can be used as a separate assessment tool for the students.  Further studies of this kind can help to reorganize the viva assessment and also can give a platform for innovation of newer assessment method in medical education which can be extrapolated to other streams.