Objective　To investigate the promotional effect of the new teaching method of goal orientation combined with plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cyclic improvement on specialized medical knowledge and operation skills among physicians in critical care medicine. Methods　A total of 84 physicians who received critical care medicine training in Department of Critical Care Medicine in Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2013 to December 2015 were selected

and according to the time of admission

they were divided into control group with 41 physicians and experimental group with 43 physicians. The physicians in the experimental group received the new teaching method of goal orientation combined with PDCA cyclic improvement

i.e.

the physicians started systematic learning according to the learning goals sent out by the teaching secretary

summarized problems during learning and looked for optimal solutions every week

and then continued learning in the next week through PDCA cyclic improvement. The physicians in the control group received traditional teaching combined with bedside teaching

but no learning goals were set for them. The two groups were compared in terms of theoretical examination scores

clinical operation skills

and results of the questionnaire survey. The t-test and Wilcoxon ranksum test were used for comparison of scores between the two groups by SPSS 18.0. Results　Compared with the control group

the experimental group had significant increases in the scores of theoretical examination (91.50±4.18 vs. 87.80±3.63) and operation skills (88.80±3.34 vs. 85.40±2.88). The questionnaire survey showed that compared with the control group

the experimental group had a significantly higher degree of satisfaction

significantly greater learning interests

and significantly greater improvements in operation skills

clinical thinking ability

and self-confidence. Conclusion　The new teaching method of goal orientation combined with PDCA cyclic improvement can stimulate learning interests

clarify learning goals

help physicians to master important and difficult issues

and thus improve their learning outcomes and scores in Department of Critical Care Medicine.