Comparing the Effects of Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) and Traditional Method on Learning of Students

Assessment of suturing and scaling skills of periodontology and oral medicine residents by OSATS method: a pilot study

INTRODUCTION

Updating the method for evaluating suturing and scaling skills in dental education has attracted relatively little attention and there is no consensus to what should be assessed and how. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill (OSATS) method for these two basic skills, the possible association between the scores and demographic factors, and the level of satisfaction of residents with this method.

METHODS

All six periodontics and three oral medicine residents were recruited by census method and video-recorded while performing a simple interrupted suture, a figure eight suture and scaling on a model. Then, the videos were evaluated independently via a checklist and a global rating scale (GRS) by two expert raters. Agreement between raters and residents' satisfaction were evaluated. Correlation between demographic factors of participants and scores was also assessed. T-test and linear regression analysis were used.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between the scores based on the views of the two raters for each of the checklist (ICC = 0.99, CI = 0.96-0.99, P < 0.001) and GRS (ICC = 0.97, CI = 0.86-0.99, P < 0.001). Linear regression showed no correlation between gender and scores but periodontics major and higher year of education showed correlation with higher scores.

CONCLUSION

Considering the excellent agreement between raters in using both the checklist and GRS components of OSATS, and satisfaction of 88% the residents with this method, it seems to be able to provide a reliable assessment.

Learning surgical knot tying and suturing technique - effects of different forms of training in a controlled randomized trial with dental students

Objective

The acquisition of surgical skills requires motor learning. A special form of this is intermanual transfer by transferring motor skills from the nondominant hand (NDH) to the dominant hand (DH). The purpose of this study was to determine the learning gains that can be achieved for the DH by training with the DH, the NDH, and by non-surgical alternative training (AT).

Methods

124 preclinical (n=62) and clinical (n=62) dental students completed surgical knot tying and suturing technique training with the DH, with the NDH, and an AT in a controlled randomized trial.

Results

A statistically significant learning gain in knot tying and suture technique with the DH was evident only after training with the DH when compared to training with the NDH (p<0.001 and p=0.004, respectively) and an AT (p=0.001 and p=0.010, respectively). Of those students who achieved a learning gain ≥4 OSATS points, 46.4% (n=32) benefited in their knot tying technique with the DH from training with the DH, 29.0% (n=20) from training with the NDH, and 24.6% (n=17) from an AT while 45.7% (n=32) benefited in their suturing technique with the DH from training with the DH, 31.4% (n=22) from training with the NDH, and 22, 9% (n=16) from an AT.

Conclusions

Training with the DH enabled significantly better learning gains in the surgical knot tying and suturing techniques with the DH.

Robust Real-Time Detection of Laparoscopic Instruments in Robot Surgery Using Convolutional Neural Networks with Motion Vector Prediction

More than half of post-operative complications can be prevented, and operation performances can be improved based on the feedback gathered from operations or notifications of the risks during operations in real time. However, existing surgical analysis methods are limited, because they involve time-consuming processes and subjective opinions. Therefore, the detection of surgical instruments is necessary for (a) conducting objective analyses, or (b) providing risk notifications associated with a surgical procedure in real time. We propose a new real-time detection algorithm for detection of surgical instruments using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This algorithm is based on an object detection system YOLO9000 and ensures continuity of detection of the surgical tools in successive imaging frames based on motion vector prediction. This method exhibits a constant performance irrespective of a surgical instrument class, while the mean average precision (mAP) of all the tools is 84.7, with a speed of 38 frames per second (FPS).

Introducing objective structured practical examination as a method of learning and evaluation for undergraduate pharmacology

OBJECTIVE

Assessment method can influence student learning. Use of objective structured practical examination (OSPE) has been reported in various institutes with great benefits. We evaluated OSPE for the assessment of practical skills in pharmacology examination for undergraduate medical students and compared it with conventional practical examination (CPE).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

After sensitizing the 2nd year MBBS students to OSPE, the students were divided into four batches with twenty students in each batch. Students were assessed by attending five OSPE stations, each for duration of 5 min. The effectiveness was assessed through a student's feedback questionnaire and was checked for its reliability by Cronbach's alpha. The result of OSPE was compared with that of CPE of the same batch.

RESULTS

Cronbach's alpha of the feedback questionnaire was 0.71, with high internal consistency. The feedback given was categorized into three domains: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective, and an assessment was also done for its further use. In cognitive domain, 74% of the students felt that the questions asked and the syllabus taught were well correlated. In psychomotor domain, 81% agreed that it is excellent for assessing the applied part of the subject. Seventy percent of students opined that it was associated with lesser stress than CPE. On overall assessment, 76% rated this methodology as good/satisfactory and 23% as excellent in terms of better scoring. There was a significant difference in the mean score between the results of OSPE and CPE (P < 0.001, df = 158, confidence interval = 95%).

CONCLUSION

OSPE is a feasible and skill enhancing tool for the assessment in pharmacology examinations for undergraduate students.