Objective To explore the application effect of TBL (Teaching Team-Based Learning) in clinical practice teaching. Methods The surgical internship students of the year 2015 were divided into the control group with traditional teaching and the experimental group with TBL teaching. The teaching effect was evaluated by the examination results, the internship effect survey and the TBL pedagogical feasibility questionnaire. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in their test scores. TBL helped to improve students' comprehensive ability to solve clinical problems, classroom participation, degree of self-knowledge and internship satisfaction. Conclusion TBL may enhance students' ability of active thinking and learning, teamwork and practicing in clinical practice teaching.