Education research: Assessment of neurology resident clinical competencies in the neurology clinic.

BACKGROUND Objective evaluation of neurology resident clinical skills is required by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is important to insure improvement in clinical competency throughout their residency. METHODS In this study, neurology residents from all 3 years of training and neurology faculty independently completed a form on new clinic patients documenting their decisions on anatomic localization, diagnosis, diagnostic tests, and management. RESULTS Compared to the attending patient evaluation, we found significant improvement in identical scoring by year of residency training. All resident years outperformed medical students in the neurology clerkship. CONCLUSION Our clinical assessment form adds one more tool to the list of currently used assessment methods to evaluate resident clinical competency.