Abstract: Objective To set up a teaching clinic in otolaryngology head and neck surgery and to explore its effect in the outpatient teaching for residents. Methods Twenty residents (including general practitioners) who were in the otolaryngology department of Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University from January 2018 to December 2019 participated in the otolaryngology teaching clinic training for residents. At the end of the training, the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (Mini-CEX) was used to evaluate training outcomes of these residents with questionnaire survey. Results After training,the Mini-CEX scores were all higher than those before training. For example, medical history of inquiry [(7.30±0.57)vs.(5.35±0.75)], the clinical judgment [(6.15±0.75)vs.(5.00±0.73)], communication skill [(7.25±0.97)vs.(5.10±0.72)], and the overall performances [(7.60±0.69)vs.(5.40±0.68)], the difference of seven scoring items was statistically significant (all P<0.05). The questionnaires showed that twenty residents gave a 5-point rating on improvement of the capacity of consulting, communication, clinical reasoning and decision-making based on symptoms and stimulating learning interest. In terms of clinical reasoning and professional accomplishment improvement, nineteen of residents gave a 5-point rating and one resident gave a 4-point rating. Conclusions Teaching clinic in otolaryngology head and neck surgery enabled residents to take the initiative to learn and think in the process of outpatient management and to better master different knowledge and skills from the ward, which was helpful to improve the teaching quality of outpatient teaching. In the process of implementation, it was the key that teachers played a supervisory role and adopted hierarchical progressive training methods.

Key words: Clinical education, Teaching clinic, Otolaryngology, Residents