Abstract: Objective To explore the role of the exemplary demonstration course “Basic Neurosurgery Operations and Surgical Approaches” in improving the teaching quality of standardized training of neurosurgery. Methods A total of 42 graduate students who participated in the course from September 2021 to December 2023 were selected, matched 1:1 with their counterparts who did not participate in the course. All trainees were required to complete a same questionnaire survey. The basic data, questionnaire scores of the two groups were compared, and statistical descriptions of the satisfaction and course evaluation of the participating students were performed. Statistical tests including t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Dunn′s multiple comparison tests and Chi-square test were applied using Graphpad Prism 10.0. Results There were no significant differences in educational background and age distribution between the two groups indicating comparability. The questionnaire scores of the students who participated in the course[7.0(6.0-9.0) points] were significantly higher than those of the students who did not participate in the course[3.5(2.0-5.0) points] (P＜0.000 1). This score advantage applied to students who participated in the course in the school year from 2021 to 2023, and there was no statistical difference in questionnaire scores among students who participated in the course across the three years. Additionally, 88.1% of the students who participated in the course expressed a high satisfaction and 90.5% of them considered the course was very practical for training of clinical skills. Conclusions The exemplary demonstration course “Basic Neurosurgery Operations and Surgical Approaches”may improve learning outcomes of surgical approaches and support the clinical training of neurosurgery graduates.

Key words: neurosurgery, exemplary demonstration course, professional degree education, surgical approaches