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Does direct observation of procedural skills reflect trainee's progress in otolaryngology?
Author(s) -
Awad Z.,
Hayden L.,
Muthuswamy K.,
Ziprin P.,
Darzi A.,
Tolley N.S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
clinical otolaryngology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.914
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1749-4486
pISSN - 1749-4478
DOI - 10.1111/coa.12251
Subject(s) - otorhinolaryngology , medicine , specialty , retrospective cohort study , family medicine , surgery
Background UK surgical trainees are required to undertake work‐based assessments each year in order to progress in their training. Direct O bservation of P rocedural S kills ( DOPS ) is one of these assessments. We aim to investigate the validity of DOPS in assessing otolaryngology trainees at all levels. Methods A retrospective search of the portfolios of all otolaryngology trainees in North Thames was carried out to identify otolaryngology‐specific DOPS . A score ( C s) was calculated for each DOPS based on the percentage of satisfactorily‐rated items. The overall performance rating ( P s) was analysed as a separate variable and compared with C s. The P s and C s results were then compared across trainee grades and levels within each grade: C ore trainees ( CT 1‐ CT 2) and specialty trainees ( ST 3‐ ST 8). Results Seven hundred and sixty‐seven otolaryngology DOPS were completed between A ugust 2008 and S eptember 2013. The tool was found to be reliable and internally consistent. Trainees in ST grade had higher C s and P s scores than CT grade ( P < 0.001). Pairwise comparison showed that both C s and P s increased from CT 1 to ST 3 ( P = 0.005) but not from ST 4 onwards ( P = 0.198). Conclusions Otolaryngology DOPS is a useful tool in assessing otolaryngology trainees especially from CT 1‐ ST 3 level. DOPS can also differentiate between junior and senior trainees. However, it was not able to demonstrate progress at levels above ST 3, most likely due to the simplicity of the procedures which trainees tend to master in the first few years of training.