Development Strategies in Medical Education

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Mahmuodi Monfared K, Moridi A, Miri H, Hosseini Teshnizi S. A narrative review of the effect of direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS) on clinical skills of medical sciences students in Iran. , DSME. 2026; 13 (1) :99-110
URL: http://dsme.hums.ac.ir/article-1-566-en.html

Introduction: Clinical assessment is an important component of medical sciences education, and DOPS combines direct observation of performance with structured feedback. This review aimed to summarize evidence on the effect of DOPS on the clinical skills of medical sciences students in Iran.
Information sources or data: This narrative review used a structured search for studies published from 2015 to 2025 in PubMed, SID, Magiran, IranDoc, and Google Scholar.
Selection methods for study: Persian and English keywords related to DOPS and clinical skills were searched separately and in combination. Full-text studies conducted in Iran among medical sciences students were considered if they reported clinical skills, practical performance, learning, or satisfaction. Of 358 initially identified records, 11 studies remained after duplicate removal and title/abstract screening.
Combine content and results: Most included studies reported higher practical-skill scores or improved clinical performance following DOPS. The 11 studies comprised six in nursing and one each in midwifery, operating room technology, medicine, radiology, and dentistry. Some studies also reported higher student satisfaction with DOPS than with conventional assessment methods.
Conclusion: The reviewed studies support a potential role for DOPS in assessment and in facilitating practical-skill learning. However, because this was a narrative review with heterogeneous study designs and outcomes and no formal quality appraisal, conclusions regarding the superiority or definitive effectiveness of DOPS should be interpreted cautiously.