The application effect of ideological and political education (IPE)-led teaching method in ophthalmology clinical internship: a study among five-year program medical students

[Objective:] To explore the application effects of ideological and political education (IPE)-led teaching methods in ophthalmology clerkship among five-year clinical medicine students with directional training. [Methods:] The study was conducted in March 2023 in the Shijingshan Teaching Hospital of Capital Medical University. A total of 37 five-year clinical medicine students with directional training who participated in the clerkship in that academic year were selected as the research subjects. The clerkship courses were randomly divided into two groups: the traditional IPE teaching method group and the IPE - led teaching method group. The traditional IPE teaching method group adopted the traditional teaching approach in the first internship session, covering topics such as the histological anatomy of the eye, diseases of the optic nerve and visual pathway, extraocular muscle diseases and amblyopia, and ocular trauma. The IPE-led teaching method group employed a new teaching method in the second internship session, covering topics such as ocular surface diseases, external eye diseases, optometry, and retinal diseases. Following the clerkship, students' ophthalmology theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and IPE application abilities were assessed through written examinations, and their perceptions and satisfaction with the IPE teaching were evaluated using a 10-point Likert scale. [Results:] The IPE - led teaching method group demonstrated significantly higher scores in IPE performance (9.29±0.37 vs. 6.83±0.50) and overall performance (85.14±4.84 vs. 81.86±4.94) compared with the traditional IPE teaching method group (P<0.05), and significantly higher ratings across all six dimensions of the 10-point Likert scale (all P<0.001). In terms of ophthalmology theoretical knowledge and clinical skills during the clerkship, the IPE - led teaching method group achieved higher scores than the traditional IPE teaching method group, but the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). [Conclusions:] The IPE-led teaching method significantly enhances cognition, acceptance, and satisfaction among students with IPE. This approach effectively integrates ideological and political elements into medical education. By systematically embedding them into the ophthalmology internship curriculum, it enhances students’ ideological literacy, professional responsibility, and service awareness, thereby supporting the cultivation of high-caliber medical talents equipped for grassroots healthcare.