Abstract:

 Objective　In the context of Healthy China, this study aimed to understand the perception of pediatric students and teachers on early clinical practice to optimize curriculum design.Methods　A self-designed questionnaire was administered to 128 students and teachers who participated in the early pediatric clinical practice course at Nanjing Medical University from March to May 2023, aiming to explore their perceptions regarding the knowledge medical students should acquire, the competencies they should possess, and the content that should be included in early clinical practice courses.Results　A total of 112 students and 16 teachers participated in the survey. Both students and teachers ranked clinical procedural knowledge, clinical and preventive medical knowledge, basic medical knowledge, and medical ethics and humanities as essential knowledge for medical students. They agreed that medical students should possess humanistic care and clinical practice skills, but differed in emphasis, with teachers focusing more on teamwork, clinical reasoning, and lifelong learning, while students emphasized doctor-patient communication, scientific research, and critical thinking. Only 25.0% of teachers and 69.6% of students believed that medical students should have leadership skills. Regarding the content of early pediatric clinical practice courses, both teachers and students considered pediatric medical duties, doctor-patient communication elements, basic content of medical history taking, and clinical procedures as core components, with students placing more emphasis on medical record writing requirements and teachers focusing on national health and development strategies.Conclusion　There are Cognitive differences between pediatric teachers and students regarding early clinical practice in the future, an integrated framework of "knowledge-ability-practice" for early pediatric clinical practice courses could be developed, and the effectiveness could be improved through long-term tracking and evaluation.