Lijia Du,1 Rui Zheng,1 Xiaoxiong Zhu,1 Junjun Jia,2 Zhifen Yang1 

1Obstetrical Department, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of ZheJiang Province, Hangzhou,People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Zhifen Yang, Obstetrical Department, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, 169 Tianshan Street, Shijiazhuang, 050000, People’s Republic of China, Tel +8615100111990, Email cxsxfy@126.com

Purpose: As the demand for humanistic and patient-centered care grows in clinical practice, integrating narrative medicine into residency training has become increasingly important. This study aimed to investigate the narrative competencies of obstetric residents undergoing standardized training and to evaluate the effectiveness of narrative medicine education empowered by case-based teaching in enhancing clinical practice and professional competency.
Patients and Methods: A total of 46 obstetric residents enrolled in standardized training programs between October 2021 and May 2024 were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 23) or the control group (n = 23). Residents in the experimental group received case-based narrative medicine education, while those in the control group received conventional clinical teaching. Following the obstetrics rotation, knowledge tests and objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) were administered. Subjective evaluations of narrative competencies and teaching effectiveness were assessed using validated questionnaires.
Results: After the obstetrics rotation, OSCE scores were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Narrative competencies also showed a significant improvement among residents in the experimental group after the training (P < 0.05). Moreover, residents in the experimental group reported higher narrative competency scores and greater satisfaction with teaching effectiveness compared to the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Narrative medicine education empowered by case-based teaching effectively enhances narrative competencies, obstetric clinical skills, doctor-patient communication abilities, critical thinking, and learning engagement among obstetric residents undergoing standardized training. This innovative teaching approach addresses the gap in humanistic medical education and provides an effective strategy for cultivating comprehensive professional competency in obstetric residents.

Keywords: narrative competencies, case-based learning in obstetrics, obstetrics training, residency education, medical humanities in clinical education