The effect of the software of the principles of setting up surgical tables on the knowledge and practical skills of the students of operating room technology

Background: Traditional teaching and learning methods are losing their effectiveness due to the advancement of communication technology and science in the new century. Therefore, educational software development can improve medical and paramedical students’ learning in modern medical education. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of software on the principles of surgical table setting on the learning and practical skills of the students of operating room technology.

Methods: A semi-experimental study was conducted using a census method among 57 operating room students who met the inclusion criteria. The students were divided into two groups, intervention, and control. The two groups were pre-tested before the intervention to assess their knowledge and practical skills. Additionally, the control group was regularly trained, and the intervention group was provided with educational software simultaneously with routine training. A post-test was given to both groups at the end of the semester. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22 using the descriptive and inferential statistical indicators of paired t test and Mann-Whitney test.

Results: The results of this study showed that the intervention group and the control group did not differ significantly in any of the demographic parameters (P<0.05). Considering the normality of the data, comparing the level of knowledge and practical skills of the operating room technology students before and after the intervention in both groups using paired t-test showed that the level of knowledge and practical skills in the intervention group increased significantly (P>0.001).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, educational methods in conjunction with the appropriate software can effectively increase students’ awareness of operating room technology and help improve their practical skills. Therefore, educational aid software is a useful tool to be used during internship courses as an effective method of training operating room students.