Improving burn surgery education for medical students in China.

•The group getting CP-PBL shows more burn surgery knowledge and have more favorable impressions of the learning experience.•More active approaches yield more learning and are viewed more favorable, which may be an important message for the evolution of curriculum in Chinese medical schools.•The CP-PBL can be considered as the guidance of teaching approaches in burn surgery education.•Questions about burn surgery in National Medical Licensing Examination are analyzed.