Debriefing is an foundamental instructional approach of simulation-based medical education in the field of healthcare simulation. In order to improve the understanding of debriefing as an instructional approach and ensure the quality of simulation-based medical education, this paper reviews the relevant critical literatures of debriefing in simulation-based medical education, and outlined the essential elements and current development status of debriefing, debriefing models, different methods used in analyze phase of debriefing, as well as the research progress of debriefing in China and abroad. Despite various debriefing models, "debriefing with good judgment" would be more likely to assure better learner improvement. In the process of debriefing, directive feedback, students' self-assessment, and focused facilitation can be reasonably used. However, there are still room for future research on how these practices could be translated and better applied in China.