To explore the application value of case-based learning (CBL) method in the teaching of diagnosis and treatment of heart failure for medical undergraduates.

From July to October 2020, 126 fourth-year clinical students of five-year program in 2017 grade who studied internal medicine in Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University were selected and randomly divided into two groups (control group and CBL group) for teaching. The control group (n=63) received the lecture-based learning (LBL), while the CBL group (n=63) were taught heart failure knowledge through typical cases which were selected from the Second Department of Cardiology in Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University. The results of assessment and the feedback of students′ satisfaction with teaching methods and mastery of heart failure knowledge were compared between the two groups.

The theoretical score, case analysis score and total score [(45.71±0.94)points, (41.40±2.01)points, (87.12±2.07)points] of the CBL group were higher than those of the control group [(42.35±3.03)points, (38.37±3.28)points, (83.62±3.24)points] (t=8.41, 6.28, 7.21, all P<0.01). The CBL group′s satisfactions of teaching mode, learning interest increasing, clinical thinking ability, team communication ability, self-learning ability evaluation and mastery of disease concept, etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment were 100.00%, 100.00%, 100.00%, 100.00%, 100.00%, 98.41%, 100.00%, 96.83%, 98.41%, 96.83%, respectively, and they were higher than those of control group (93.65%, 87.30%, 92.06%, 85.71%, 95.24%, 87.30%, 84.13%, 84.13%, 84.13%, 82.54%). The differences were statistically significant (χ²=6.19, 13.90, 8.33, 15.05, 5.13, 8.72, 17.39, 9.83, 11.97, 10.89, all P<0.05).

The CBL method which based on heart failure case library enriches the teaching forms, improves the teaching effect of heart failure knowledge, and is worthy of further promotion.