Objective　To explore the application of 3D printing technology in clinical apprenticeship teaching in spinal surgery. Methods　38 eight-year clinical medical students admitted to the Department of Spine Surgery were randomly divided into experimental group (19 patients) and control group (19 patients). Taking odontoid fracture as an example. The traditional method is used for teaching

and the experimental group is taught with traditional teaching method combined with 3D printing technology. After the apprenticeship

the students of the two groups were tested in theory and simulated operation to evaluate the teaching effect. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analysis. The measurement data was expressed as mean ± standard deviation

and the t-test was used to compare the measurement data between two groups. Results　The results showed that the scores of immediate examination and one month after class in the control group were (82.23±7.52) and (72.36±6.39) points respectively. The scores of immediate examination and one month after the class in the experimental group were (85.58±6.32)

(80.87±6.23). The scores of the two examinations in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group

and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion　The 3D printing technology can significantly improve the teaching effect in the clinical apprenticeship teaching of spine surgery

and it has a bright prospect for application.