Punjab replaces Viva with Practical Exams in Medical Colleges

LAHORE – The University of Health and Sciences has changed the conventional Viva voce and replaced it with Objective Structured Viva Examination (OSVE).

A meeting was headed by the Vice-Chancellor Ahsan Waheed Rathore between the Board of Studies at the Academy Council.

According to the new decision, Oral/Practical/Clinical Examination will be conducted rather than the conventional Viva examination

According to sources, this is a much better and reliable approach because the traditional Viva Voce had a lot of flaws.

A format of the new test has been introduced by the UHS. According to the format, there will be specific stations and each station will test a specific objective. Prior to this, OSPE and OSCE were being used and the OSVE was introduced in Pakistan for the first time.

Under the new curriculum, the students of MBBS will be assessed through 12 objective specific stations with practical examinations being held at every station.

The new policy is set to be implemented from 2024 and onwards. There are a total of 12 stations out of which 7 are going to be reserved only for OSPE. Out of the remaining stations, 3 will be reserved for OSCE while the other will be for OSVE.

There will be external examiners at each station and the new policy states that during the exam, the subject teachers of the MBB students will not be available to assist the students.