To explore the influence of integrating ideological and political elements in teaching on the professional selection of interns in nephrology department.

Medical students who practiced in the Department of Nephrology of Shanghai Ninth People′s Hospital in 2020 and 2021 were selected as the research subjects. 37 medical students who practiced in 2021 were taken as the test group, for whom ideological and political elements were integrated in the teaching. 34 medical students who practiced in 2020 were taken as the control group receiving routine teaching. The two groups were compared in their professional selection intention and internship scores.

Compared with the control group, the number of students in the test group increased significantly who selected nephrology as their profession (45.83% vs 12.50%, P=0.027). The internship scores of the students in the test group were significantly higher than those of the control group (93.79±1.38 points vs 89.79±2.81 points, P<0.001). The students of the test group had a high recognition degree in integrating ideological and political elements in the teaching activities of nephrology internship.

The practice of integrating ideological and political elements in the internship teaching of nephrology was helpful to increase the students′ intention to select nephrology as their profession and improved the effect of their clinical practice.