Effect of Clinical Skills Evaluation by Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) Method on Clinical Performance of Operating Room Students

Background: Evaluation is an essential and integral part of medical education. Based on the evidence, the current common methods are less effective due to the lack of accurate assessment of students’ clinical skills. Clinical evaluation of students in the form of direct observation in practical situations will increase their ability to deal with clinical events in specific patient situations. Objectives: In this study, the effectiveness of the direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) method was compared with the common method in the clinical performance of operating room students. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 30 final-year operating room students in 2019 who had an internship course. Students were randomly assigned to two groups of control (n = 15) and intervention (n = 15). The evaluation of clinical skills was done by the traditional method in the control group and the DOPS method in the intervention group. Data collection was performed by a researcher-made checklist whose validity and reliability were confirmed. Statistical analysis of data was performed by SPSS-20 software using descriptive statistics and chi-square test, independent t-test, and Mann-Whitney test. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic characteristics including age, internship score, and gender (P 0.05). Based on the results of the Mann-Whitney test, the mean rank of procedural techniques and clinical performance score was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P 0.05). Conclusions: The DOPS method can be more effective than routine methods for improving the clinical performance of operating room students. Therefore, it is suggested that the DOPS method be used as an alternative to traditional methods or even as a complementary method for evaluating the clinical performance of operating room students.