Video-enhanced training for entrustable professional activities in preclinical oral surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Traditional preclinical teaching methods face challenges in adequately preparing oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) students for the entrustable professional activities (EPA) required in their future clinical internships. This study aimed to evaluate how a 4 K live-video teaching model (LTM), integrated into a preclinical transitional course (PTC), improves students’ EPA-related performance. Thirty-six fifth-year undergraduate students participated in a PTC. They were randomly divided into two groups. The control group was taught using a traditional teaching model within the PTC (direct guidance at a manikin), while the experimental group received instruction supplemented with the LTM. The module incorporated high-fidelity simulation, wherein a physician acted as a simulated patient to provide real-time verbal feedback. After the PTC, students’ competencies were comprehensively evaluated across several domains: comprehensive EPA scores (self-assessed, teacher-rated, and composite), procedural skills assessment scores, theoretical examination scores, and questionnaire-based self-evaluations and teacher evaluations of student outcomes. All assessment instruments were found to be reliable, as indicated by their ICC and Cronbach’s α values. The assessment instruments showed high validity. Compared to the control group, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in EPA self-assessment (93.05 ± 1.26 vs. 89.21 ± 1.26), teacher evaluation (88.79 ± 0.85 vs. 85.86 ± 0.85), and overall EPA performance (90.92 ± 0.91 vs. 87.54 ± 0.91) (all p < 0.05). The experimental group also demonstrated superior procedural skill test scores (89.49 ± 0.73 vs. 79.48 ± 0.73, p < 0.001), self-evaluations of learning (21.61 ± 1.14 vs. 13.05 ± 1.70, p < 0.001), and teacher evaluations of their performance (21.37 ± 1.23 vs. 18.93 ± 1.31, p < 0.001). No significant difference was found in theoretical examination scores (p > 0.05). In this study, the integration of LTM into the OMFS PTC was associated with a significant enhancement in students’ foundational procedural skills, self-perceived competence, and overall performance as evaluated by faculty. These findings suggest that this teaching model can be an effective tool for improving EPA-related performance in a preclinical setting. However, given the single-center design and small sample size, further research is warranted to validate these results. This model shows potential for better preparing students for the clinical entrustment process.