Application of Multidisciplinary Collaborative Teaching Based on Integrative Medicine in Thoracic Tumor Surgery Education

AIM: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary collaborative teaching model based on integrative medicine in thoracic tumor surgery education. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included sixty-one clinical interns who underwent training in the Department of Thoracic Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center at The Third Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University (Zhejiang Rongjun Hospital) from March 2022 to March 2025. Based on the implementation period of the teaching model, participants were assigned to a control group (n = 30) or an observation group (n = 31). The control group received traditional teaching, whereas the observation group received multidisciplinary collaborative teaching based on integrative medicine, including multidisciplinary team (MDT) case discussions, scenario-based simulation, and simulated surgical skills training. Both groups underwent 3 months of training. After training, the theoretical knowledge assessment scores, comprehensive clinical competence (Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX) assessment, including dimensions such as medical history taking and case analysis, clinical reasoning and judgment, doctor-patient communication, and Organization/Efficiency), operational skills (operational standardization, teamwork, instrument proficiency, and mastery of basic surgical skills), and teaching satisfaction were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After training, the observation group achieved significantly higher theoretical knowledge scores than the control group (p < 0.05). For comprehensive clinical skills, the observation group scored significantly higher in history taking and case analysis, clinical reasoning and judgment, and Organization/Efficiency (p < 0.05), whereas no significant difference was observed in doctor-patient communication (p = 0.402). Regarding operational skills, the observation group performed significantly better in operational standardization, teamwork, and instrument proficiency (all p < 0.05), while basic skills mastery did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.262). Teaching satisfaction scores for teaching methods, teaching content, learning enthusiasm, and overall satisfaction were significantly higher in the observation group (all p < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were found in effectiveness or practicality (all p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary collaborative teaching based on integrative medicine was associated with improved theoretical knowledge, selected aspects of clinical competence (history taking and case analysis, clinical reasoning and judgment, Organization/Efficiency), certain operational skills (operation standardization, teamwork, and instrument proficiency), and higher teaching satisfaction. However, improvements were not observed across all competency domains. This teaching model may have value in standardized thoracic oncology training, although prospective studies are needed for further validation.