Objective　To introduce small group learning in the course of introduction to gen-eral practice to cultivate students' ability of active learning and innovation. Methods　Totally 221 students of 2008 grade A and B classes were enrolled as teaching objects and were divided into 20 groups. Introduction to general practice was used as learning materials. One week before the class， teacher gave students learning task and A and B classes carried on class discussion respectively. Re-view speaking was conducted by the representatives of groups. Effectiveness was evaluated through the observation， interview， questionnaire survey and answer scoring points. Results　Overall support per-centage to small group learning was 91%. Percentages of students who believed that small group learn-ing was beneficial to cultivating the ability of active learning and innovation were 88% and 73% re-spectively. Conclusions　Introducing small group learning in the course of introduction to general practice is effective and conductive to training students' ability to study and innovate.