Evaluating a comprehensive MES and DOPS educational programme in prosthodontics residency training: a randomized comparative study

Worldwide, prosthodontics residency training faces two main problems: teaching content is not well structured, and trainees do not receive timely or useful feedback. The Modules of Employable Skills (MES) approach can organise learning content into modules, while Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS) can assess performance after learning and provide immediate, structured feedback. However, previous studies have generally evaluated MES or DOPS alone, and no study has evaluated MES and DOPS as one comprehensive educational programme. This study therefore evaluated such an integrated programme within China’s Standardised Residency Training (SRT) programme. This randomised comparative study enrolled 40 first-year prosthodontic residents and randomly allocated them to either an experimental group ( n = 20) or a control group ( n = 20). The experimental group received a 12-week comprehensive educational programme comprising six MES modules and 12 formative DOPS assessments. The control group received traditional apprenticeship training. The primary outcomes were theoretical and practical examination scores at the end of the rotation. Secondary outcomes included the competency attainment rate and teaching satisfaction. The practical examination was scored using a 100-point checklist, and the DOPS score was generated separately from the same procedure by assessors blinded to group allocation. The experimental group had higher scores than the control group on the theoretical examination (90.2 ± 3.1 vs. 82.3 ± 3.8, P < 0.001) and on the practical examination (92.5 ± 2.6 vs. 84.1 ± 3.3, P < 0.001) and DOPS score (4.3 ± 0.2 vs. 3.2 ± 0.4, P < 0.001). The competency attainment rate was also higher in the experimental group (95.0% vs. 70.0%, P = 0.037). The integrated MES and DOPS programme was associated with better theoretical knowledge and practical performance in prosthodontic residents. It may offer a practical framework for structuring clinical training and feedback in competency-based education. Further research is needed to assess its long-term effects and applicability across different settings.