Integrating Education of School History into Teaching of Clinical Courses and Developing Professional Courses with PUMC Characteristics: Taking Diabetes Teaching in Internal Medicine as an Example

Objective To explore how to integrate the history of Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) into the teaching of diabetes in internal medicine, in order to develop an ideological and political theory-based course with PUMC characteristics. Methods The students in '4+4' medical doctor program of PUMC were enrolled into this study. Diabetes mellitus course combined with ideological and political theories course (including the history of insulin development, the life and contribution of Prof. WU Xian and Prof. LIN Kesheng, and the contributions of Prof. CHI Zhisheng, Prof. PAN Xiaoren and Prof. XIANG Hongding to the prevention and treatment of diabetes) was used for the teaching. Feedback (including the level of the political teaching knowledge before and after the course, the effectiveness of the political teaching by students after the course) was collected by questionnaire online, and statistical analysis was conducted. Results A total of 62 students (32 in grade 2020 and 30 in grade 2021) were included in the '4+4' pilot class of clinical medicine at PUMC. A total of 58 questionnaires were collected (30 in grade 2020 and 28 in grade 2021), with a rate of 93.5%(58/62). Before teaching, 55.2%~100% of the students had no knowledge of the course, and after teaching, all students had a general understanding, with the level of understanding significantly better than before (P < 0.001). According to the survey, 82.8% of the students thought that the course increased their interest in learning, 86.2% of the students were satisfied with the overall effect of the course, 89.7% thought that it allowed them to better understand the history of PUMC, 77.6% thought it deepened their understanding of the spirit of medical science, 82.8% thought it increased their understanding of the spirit of professional service to the country and patriotism, and 72.4% thought it increased their sense of social responsibility. Conclusions Integrating the history of PUMC into clinical medicine education is the unique advantage of PUMC medical education. It is conducive to students understanding of ideological and political theories, inculcation of correct values, method ology and humanistic qualities, and cultivation of the truth-seeking and pragmatic spirit of medical science.