Objective To address challenges such as the complex anatomical structure of the trigeminal nerve, difficulties in hands-on teaching, and the lack of integration with clinical knowledge, a virtual simulation-based experimental course was designed and implemented, with its application effectiveness analyzed.    Methods The course was structured around the framework of “Exploring the Trigeminal Nerve-Examination of Trigeminal Neuralgia-Simulation of Surgical Treatment”. It was applied in the human anatomy laboratory course for eight-year clinical medicine students through the following steps, goal refinement, key point analysis, instructional design, implementation, performance evaluation, and questionnaire surveys.    Results The course integrated detailed trigeminal nerve anatomy with interdisciplinary knowledge from neurology and neurosurgery, thoroughly analyzing its functions. This approach helped students deeply understand the medical principle of “structure determines function”and efficiently master the content. Exam scores on trigeminal nerve-related questions improved significantly, and the virtual simulation course received the highest satisfaction rating among all human anatomy laboratory courses.    Conclusion This course integrates virtual simulation technology with clinical medical education, and established a teaching loop of “basic anatomy-clinical diagnosis-surgical intervention”. It effectively addresses core challenges in traditional teaching, such as abstract structures, difficulties in operation, and disconnection from clinical practice. The result  demonstrates that this model not only enhances knowledge acquisition and test scores but also fosteres students’ clinical thinking of “structure determines function”, and receives high satisfaction. Therefore it may provide an innovative and scalable solution for medical course education reform.