The effect of direct observation of procedural skills method on learning clinical skills of midwifery students of medical sciences

Clinical education is one of the most important parts of medical students’ education, and it is a major part of the education of qualified and professional people. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effect of applying Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) on midwifery students’ clinical skills.

This is a quasi‑experimental, two‑group study conducted as a pre‑ and post‑study on midwifery students in 2017–2018. Cluster and randomized sampling method was used. The processors involved in this study were three main skills of vaginal examination, pelvic examination, and vaginal delivery. The DOPS method was used to assess the practical skills in the interventional group during three times the process at day, 1 day, and at least 1 week later; the usual logbook method was used in the control group. Two groups were evaluated at the end of the midwifery course by Comprehensive Final Midwifery checklist. The tools were checked for validity and reliability, and data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of important demographic variables such as age, grade, marital status, and initial assessment score (P > 0.05). The mean of final scores in the normal delivery, vaginal examination, and pelvimetry was statistically significantly higher in the interventional group (P < 0.001). On the other hand, the functional field of the students in the interventional group was statistically significantly improved in normal delivery and pelvimetry (P < 0.05), and this difference was not significant in the vaginal examination. In addition, the mean scores of students before and after the DOPS method were statistically significantly different in every skill in Comprehensive Final Midwifery checklist (P < 0/05).

The DOPS assessment methodology is not only a useful tool of clinical evaluation, but also an effective tool for clinical learning of students. For this purpose, it is suggested that educational members of midwifery take enough time to design DOPS method in the same process.