Effectiveness of Video Observed Procedural Skills (VOPS) versus Directly Observed Procedural Skills (DOPS) among post graduate residents of Gynae/Obs: a comparative study

Introduction: Assessment is an important constituent of the medical curriculum for health professional1 during training period. It is defined as process of collecting, interpreting, keeping the record of the information of learner’s answers to the curricular task.1 Assessment drives learning and aims to enhance and boost the capability of all learners and health professionals.3, 4 . Directly observed procedural skills assessment was traditionally used for many years. Recently video observed procedural skills assessment has evolved in various specialities of medicine. Both methods are work place-based assessment methods. Our study compared both methods to determine effectiveness of the effectiveness of these methods among postgraduate students of Gynae and Obstetrics. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of DOPS versus VOPS for assessing episiotomy repairs in obstetrics. To compare difference in resident’s performance in terms of rating scores assessed separately using between DOPS and VOPS. Study design: Comparative analytical study Duration: 6 months, commencing from 8th July 2024 till 25th Dec 2024, and was conducted within 4 Obs and Gynae departments within the public healthcare sector in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Results: A total of 41 residents participated in the study, and their procedural skills were assessed using the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Workplace-Based Assessment (WBA) framework. Out of 41 residents, most of them were from 1st year and 3rd year i.e 87.79% while 12.19% were from 3rd year residency. VOPS has positive predictive value=58.1% (TP/ (TP+FP=18/31) and negative predictive value of 90% (TN/(TN+FN=9/10). Overall accuracy is 65.9% (TP+TN/total=27/41). VOPS can identify two-thirds of the participants. Conclusion: VOPS is good screening test for competency with high sensitivity, low specificity and higher negative predictive value.