What should be encouraged to develop the scientific competence of scholars and researchers (S&R)? What should a scientific evaluation focus on? These are important topics in medical education. In fact, there are several core competencies that should be encouraged, including learning, research, scientific writing, innovation and translational applications. Scientific evaluation should pay attention to several “hard indicators”, including academic leadership, independence, guidance, diversity, cooperation and innovation. But how to become an excellent cardiovascular S&R, it is necessary to continuously improve the scientific ability and levels, including innovation and publishing academic papers as the first or single author in one of the “345” top international journals. Since these key indicators are vital markers, it is time to develop a new scoring system to better and more rationally evaluate one’s scientific performance. In addition, there is a need for more innovative, value-added courses and hands-on experience to greatly improve their academic level.