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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health

Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion

Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1682687

This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Public Health Workforce Competencies: AI Integration and Post-Pandemic Educational ReformsView all 12 articles

The effectiveness of Symptom-Oriented Mind Mapping Combined with Problem-Based Learning in Critical Care Clerkships: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Provisionally accepted
Tian  GaoTian Gao1,2Xuewei  ZhaoXuewei Zhao1,2heng  Bo Wangheng Bo Wang1Ling  WangLing Wang3Yuan  MaoYuan Mao1,2Dan  WangDan Wang1,2Yao  Zheng HanYao Zheng Han1,2Ping  Xue XuPing Xue Xu1,2Li  QianLi Qian1,2Can  YangCan Yang1,2Jie  YinJie Yin1,2Wei  WangWei Wang1,2*Xilan  YangXilan Yang1,2*
  • 1Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
  • 2The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 南京市, China
  • 3The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of Symptom-Oriented Mind Mapping combined with Problem-Based Learning (SOM-PBL) in intensive care unit (ICU) clinical clerkships, assessing its impact on medical students' knowledge integration, clinical decision-making efficiency, and procedural skills, thereby providing theoretical and practical insights for optimizing critical care medical education. Methods: A prospective randomized controlled trial enrolled 160 fifth-year medical students during ICU clerkships at the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (January 2023–December 2024). Participants were randomly assigned to the SOM-PBL group (n = 80) or the control group (n = 80) using stratified randomization based on academic major and pre-clerkship academic performance. All students subsequently completed a four-week ICU clerkship using their assigned instructional method (SOM-PBL or traditional teaching), after which they underwent comprehensive assessments in theoretical knowledge, procedural skills, clinical reasoning, and educational satisfaction. Results: The SOM-PBL group achieved significantly higher median knowledge theoretical scores [median (IQR): 77 (73, 80) vs. 74 (72, 77); P < 0.05] and superior clinical reasoning performance [median (IQR): 88 (85, 93) vs. 87 (84, 89.75); P < 0.05]. No significant intergroup difference was observed in procedural skills performance [median (IQR): 92 (90, 94) for both groups; P = 0.938).SOM-PBL showed significant strengths in monitoring technology/device application, pathophysiology/disease recognition, and diagnostic cognitive rigor (all P < 0.05). Over 80% of SOM-PBL students rated ≥90% of survey items as 4 or 5 on a 5-point Likert scale, indicating high satisfaction with learning efficiency, engagement, clinical reasoning enhancement, and course quality. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that the SOM-PBL approach significantly enhanced medical students' knowledge integration and clinical decision-making efficiency during ICU clerkships. However, no significant improvement was observed in procedural skills. These findings offer both theoretical and practical value for innovating critical care medical education by effectively addressing knowledge fragmentation and bridging the theory-practice gaps.

Keywords: Problem-Based Learning, Mind mapping, critical care medicine, Clinical Clerkship, clinical reasoning

Received: 09 Aug 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Zhao, Wang, Wang, Mao, Wang, Han, Xu, Qian, Yang, Yin, Wang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Wei Wang, wangwei60215_njmu@163.com
Xilan Yang, xilanyang@njmu.edu.cn

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