To evaluate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the competency-oriented training effect of neurology residents.

Clinicians who completed or are undergoing standardized residency training in the Department of Neurology of Peking University Third Hospital from 2020 to 2023 were included in a questionnaire survey to obtain the effect evaluation of standardized training under the current model, and compared with the data from 2016 to 2020 by χ² test or exact probability to evaluate whether COVID-19 had an impact on the training effect. The evaluation content mainly includes the most beneficial and the most unsatisfactory teaching methods, the form and content of knowledge acquisition, clinical skills and humanistic quality.

A total of 25 residents were included in this study, and the overall satisfaction rate of training was 96% (24/25), which was not statistically different from that before COVID-19 (85%). In terms of teaching methods, the proportion of cases that believed that "students as the main body" benefited greatly from learning decreased significantly (32% vs 90%, χ²=23.665, P＜0.001), while the proportion of dissatisfied with “weak teachers' awareness of teaching” decreased significantly (48% vs 75%, χ²=4.905, P=0.027). In terms of the form of knowledge acquisition and content evaluation, the proportion of “neuroimaging”, “basic knowledge of internal medicine”, and “knowledge of medical humanities and ethics” decreased significantly (56% vs 83%, 32% vs 70%, 12% vs 45%; χ²=5.396, 8.990, 7.661; P=0.020, 0.003, 0.007), while the proportion of “clinical epidemiology and statistics” increased significantly (56% vs 25%, χ²=6.348, P=0.012). In terms of clinical skills, the proportion of candidates for lumbar puncture, neurological examination, and medical history collection decreased significantly (4% vs 45%, 16% vs 55%, 36% vs 70%; χ²=12.502, 9.750, 7.253; P＜0.001, =0.002, =0.007), while the proportion of candidates for “interpretation of results of electromyography and electroencephalogram” increased significantly (96% vs 38%, χ²=21.938, P＜0.001). Access to knowledge has also changed. The number of people using CNKI or Wanfang Database and Baidu or Google Scholar has decreased significantly (32% vs 63%, 4% vs 45%; χ²=5.726, 12.502; P=0.017, <0.001). There was no significant change in human quality before and after COVID-19.

After COVID-19, the focus of neurology residents for specialized knowledge and skills training has changed, which has a certain guiding effect on competency-oriented training.