Objective To assess the effectiveness of evidence-based medicine for improving core competencies of undergraduate medical students. Methods MEDLINE, ERIC, Academic Source Premier, Campbell Library databases and three Chinese Databases (CBM, CNKI, VIP) were searched from January 1992 to May 2009.We also used Google to searching related literature. The design is a systematic review of randomized, non-randomized, and before-after studies. Two reviewers did study selection, quality assessment, and data abstraction independently. Different opinions were resolved by consensus. We used an adaptation of the quality measure from Gemma Flores-Mateo et al to assess the quality of selected studies. And descriptive analysis was conducted. Results A total of 17 studies met the selection criteria, 2 of them were of high quality, the others were of moderate quality. Studies involved Competencies of Scientific Foundation of Medicine, Clinical Skills, and Management of Information. Conclusion Competencies of Scientific Foundation of Medicine, Clinical Skills, and Management of Information are improved by evidence-based medicine teaching. No study on professional values, attitudes, behavior and ethics, population health and health systems, management of information, critical thinking and research is available. It is impossible to assess the four domains above.
“Problem - based learning” has become a teaching model widely used in medical undergraduate classroom teaching. In this model, the answers to questions, relevant facts or concepts are not presented directly by the lecturer. The complex questions raised by students are used as a tool to help students learn relevant concepts and principles. This paper discusses the teaching model based on “problem-based learning”, including “problem-based learning” combined with new technologies (new media, three-dimensional printing technology, wisdom teaching), and other teaching mode (case-based learning, lecture-based learning, etc.), as well as the progress in the application of these patterns in clinical teaching of undergraduate course, and analyzes its advantages and disadvantages, hoping to provide a reference for medical undergraduate teaching mode.