Construction of a Medical Curriculum Evaluation System Based on TQM and PDCA Cycle: Theoretical Framework and Practical Pathway

Background Traditional medical education evaluation systems often homogenize theoretical and clinical bedside teaching, leading to a disconnect between supervision assessments and real-world clinical practice. This study aimed to develop a context-aware classroom teaching evaluation system tailored to the unique "dual-scenario transition" characteristic of medical education, where theoretical lectures must connect to clinical cases and bedside teaching must be grounded in theoretical frameworks. Methods A comprehensive evaluation system was constructed using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle integrated with Total Quality Management (TQM) principles and constructivist learning theory. The research employed a mixed-methods approach including: (1) document analysis of national education policies and peer university practices; (2) grounded theory analysis of 78 issues of internal supervision reports spanning 10 years; (3) a large-scale questionnaire survey of 5,965 undergraduate students; (4) semi-structured focus groups with faculty and students; and (5) a comparative analysis of student evaluation systems at 17 leading American research universities. A digital evaluation platform was developed and implemented at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University from 2020 to 2025. Results A multi-stakeholder evaluation system was established with student evaluations (70%), peer reviews, teaching supervision assessments, and administrative evaluations. Six core dimensions of teaching quality were identified through grounded theory: teaching philosophy and objectives, teaching content, teaching process, teaching resources and environment, teacher competencies and professionalism, and evaluation and feedback mechanisms. The system demonstrated good reliability and validity, with significant correlations between supervision scores and student evaluations (r = 0.69, p < 0.01). Overall teaching quality showed a steady upward trend from 85.3 points in 2020 to 86.7 points in 2025 (on a 100-point scale). Student participation rates in course evaluations exceeded 90% in recent semesters, with high satisfaction scores for the digital platform. Conclusions The TQM-PDCA integrated evaluation system effectively addresses the unique challenges of medical education by capturing context-specific quality signals across theoretical and clinical teaching settings. The digital platform enables real-time monitoring and data-driven decision-making, facilitating continuous quality improvement in medical education. This study provides a replicable model for medical schools seeking to enhance their teaching quality assurance systems. Trial registration Not applicable.