Application of the Three-Act Teaching Method in Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Internal Medicine Education: A Theoretical Analysis-Based Study on an Integrative Reform Framework

Current Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (TCM-WM) internal medicine education faces core challenges such as the disconnection between theory and clinical practice, fragmentation of TCM-WM knowledge systems, weak integrative thinking among students, a homogeneous teaching staff structure, and onesided evaluation methods. To cultivate interdisciplinary medical talents with integrative capabilities, there is an urgent need to explore systematic teaching model reforms. Three-Act Teaching Method (TATM), as an active learning approach, shows potential in enhancing clinical reasoning skills. However, its targeted application and mechanism exploration in the interdisciplinary field of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine remain insufficiently studied. This study employs the oretical analysis and logical deduction to deeply examine the core logic of the TATM: “Scenario Construction → Multi-dimensional Exploration → Integrative Review”. The research focuses on systematically deconstructing how this method serves as a strategic framework to precisely target and reshape the teaching process in TCM-WM internal medicine, thereby addressing its inherent deep-seated pedagogical contradictions. The analysis indicates that the three-act teaching method, by using complete and authentic medical cases as a vehicle, can compel the initiation of associative thinking between TCM and WM knowledge, addressing the issue of knowledge fragmentation. Its core component — structured debate — simulates real clinical decision-making scenarios, training students to formulate plans from TCM-WM, and integrative perspectives. This effectively cultivates the clinical mindset of when and how to integrate. The method also transforms the teacher’s role into that of a curriculum designer and debate facilitator, reducing absolute reliance on their personal level of knowledge integration, and drives a reform towards a process-oriented evaluation system. Ultimately, by reviewing real clinical pathways, it completes the cognitive loop for students from theory to practice. The three-act teaching method provides a systematic reform framework for integrated TCM-WM internal medicine education. Through its closed-loop mechanism of “Compelling Association - Simulated Decision-Making - Feedback Calibration”, it effectively targets and addresses the main pedagogical pain points in this field, holding promise for systematically improving the quality and efficiency of talent cultivation. Its successful implementation relies on the development of a high-quality integrated case library and training in teachers’ facilitation skills.