Objective To investigate the attitudes of eight-year medical students towards ideological and humanistic teaching and their suggestions for the current situation. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 102 students of the eight-year clinical medicine major at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine to understand their opinions on ideological and humanistic courses. Results There were 47.1% of the students supported the ideological and humanistic course and considered it necessary. There were 88.2% of the students believed that the learning effect of the new media channel teaching was better and helpful for learning compared to the traditional teaching mode. Conclusions Eight-year medical students have a high enthusiasm and awareness of medical humanities courses. Multimedia materials can be utilized in the learning process, combining general humanities education with medical education.