Evaluation of the pre-class training program for supervisors in the educational impacts for Mini-CEX and DOPS in orthopedic postgraduate trainees: Impacts from a randomized clinical trial

Objectives To improve the educational impacts of the Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) and Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), a pre class training program in "Mini-CEX and DOPS" mode was designed to train the supervisors before conducting these tools in the clinical scenarios. We hypothesize that the pre class training program in a "Mini-CEX/DOPS" mode could improve the implementation and the subsequent educational impacts of Mini-CEX and DOPS in Orthopaedic postgraduate trainees. Methods Seventy-two trainees and twenty-four supervisors were enrolled. Twelve supervisors in the intervention (ITN) group were trained to conduct the Mini-CEX and DOPS in a "Mini-CEX and DOPS" mode. The other supervisors in the control (CTL) group were trained by videos. The supervisors' performance in conducting the tools was appraised by the Supervisor Grading Score (SGS), while the trainees' performance in mastering the skills was evaluated by Mini-CEX/DOPS rating scales. Two questionnaires were designed to evaluate the satisfaction rate and perceived helpfulness. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results For the supervisors, the SGS score was significantly higher in group ITN than in group CTL. 91.7% of supervisors in group ITN thought that the Mini-CEX/DOPS were helpful in their teaching course, and 83.3% of them would like to continue to apply these tools in the future. However, only 50.0% of supervisors in group CTL assumed Mini-CEX/DOPS helpful, and 41.7% of them would like to continue their usage. For the trainees, the mean Mini-CEX and DOPS scales were substantially higher in group ITN than in group CTL. In group ITN, 97.2% of the trainees were satisfied with their supervisors, and 91.7% of the trainees thought the Mini-CEX and DOPS was helpful. Nevertheless, only 47.2% of the trainees were satisfied, and 55.6% of them perceived helpfulness of these tools in group CTL. Conclusions We have developed a constructive training program for supervisors to improve the implementation of Mini-CEX and DOPS. The results indicated that the pre class training program could improve the performance of both the supervisors and trainees with a higher satisfaction rate and perceived helpfulness of these tools.