Objectives Based on the Global Minimum Essential Requirement in Medical Education (GMER), we tried to use the theories and methods of “competency” as a reference to introduce the concept of “competency” into medical education in China and to investigate the skills that medical graduates need for their prospective clinical work. Methods According to a literature search and expert interviews, the Glossary of Medical Graduates’ Competencies was built to define the competencies needed by medical graduates. Students’ attitudes toward those competencies were surveyed by questionnaires. Factor analysis and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) were used to analyze the data and to build the Medical Graduates’ Competency Model. Results The competencies of medical graduates could be divided into six groups. The weighting of each competency group and specific competence was different. Conclusion The Medical Graduate Competency Model can be used to evaluate medical graduates’ capacities. It has significant reference value for medical education, in terms of the evaluation of medical graduates and the reform of teaching methods.