摘要两学期制存在学期冗长、课程设置不灵活、不利于学生个性化发展等弊端，西安交通大学2013年实施三学期制改革，以期促进教学内容和方法的革新，培养学生的创新实践能力和科研素养。本研究结合学校实际，阐述学期制改革的必要性、目标和具体措施，并以医学大学生创新性实践训练作为切入点，阐述小学期的设置为培养医学生科研创新能力所带来的机遇和便利，并通过比较学期制改革前后医学大学生在全国性创新大赛中的表现，反映出学期制改革的积极作用。

abstractsTo adapt the requirement of Chinese education development, and to abandon the defects of two semester system, such as too-long semester, inflexible curriculum, and restricting personality devel-opment of students, Xi'an Jiaotong University has performed semester reform for reforming the contents and methods of the teaching, promoting the innovation ability of students, and improving the quality of the scholastic education since 2013. In the current study, we have attempted to demonstrate the benefits of the semester reform for promoting the innovation ability of students, and to reveal the active role of the semester reform through comparing the presentation of medical undergraduate students in the national competition of innovation training for medical undergraduate students. Overall, the results of our analysis have supported the semester reform, and provided the reference information for the semester reforms of Chinese universities.