ABSTRACT
Objective To determine the impact of new methods in teaching and examination on students' learning of psychiatry by increasing the proportion of objective questions in the final exam papers through examination reform, so as to help students adapt to the Practitioner Examination. Methods A total of 483 students from grade 2011&2012 were selected as research subjects. Through the comparative study of the test scores under different teaching methods before and after the examination reform, the SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used to analyze the structure, reliability, difficulty and level of differentiation of the examine papers via t tests. Results Examination papers after the reform showed an increase in difficulty in all question types; some question types also had higher levels of differentiation. Students receiving PBL-based education had higher scores compared to those under traditional teaching methods. The difference was statistically significant. Conclusion PBL teaching mode is more conducive to the mastering of knowledge points and helps students improve grades in objective questions. Medical schools should increase the use of PBL teaching reform in psychiatry courses and conduct examination reform, so as to improve the teaching effect and the passing rate of Practitioners Examination.