An integrated clinical-research training model for professional master’s degree postgraduate medical students: a controlled educational study

In China, professional master’s degree postgraduate medical education is closely integrated with standardized residency training, emphasizing clinical competence but often providing limited structured exposure to research training. This imbalance may hinder the development of clinician-scholars capable of integrating evidence-based medicine into clinical practice. We conducted a controlled educational study between September 2020 and August 2023 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, a tertiary teaching hospital, enrolling 140 professional master’s degree postgraduate medical students in internal medicine who participated in clinical rotations. Students were randomly assigned to a traditional clinical teaching model (control group, n = 70) or an integrated clinical-research teaching model (intervention group, n = 70) using a computer-generated random number list. The intervention embedded laboratory training, clinical research methodology and study design, biostatistics, and individualized research tasks into routine clinical teaching without reducing clinical training time. Outcomes were evaluated across three domains using a 5-point Likert self-assessment scale: self-perceived clinical competence, self-perceived research-related competence, and teaching satisfaction with perceived educational value. Overall self-perceived clinical competence scores did not differ significantly between the control and intervention groups. However, the control group reported higher competence in patient assessment and management, whereas the intervention group reported higher competence in evidence integration. The intervention group also demonstrated significantly higher self-perceived research competence, including literature retrieval, critical appraisal, research engagement, and overall research scores. However, no significant differences were observed in research design understanding or biostatistics and data interpretation between the two groups. Teaching satisfaction and perceived usefulness for research development were significantly higher in the intervention group, while perceived usefulness for clinical practice was comparable between groups. An integrated clinical-research teaching model was associated with improved research-related self-perceived competence and higher learner satisfaction among professional master’s degree postgraduate medical students. While overall self-perceived clinical competence remained comparable between groups, domain-specific differences were observed, with lower scores in patient assessment and management but higher scores in evidence integration in the intervention group. These findings suggest that integrating research training into clinical education represents a feasible and pragmatic approach within China’s standardized residency training system.