Purpose/Significance To systematically review the developmental trajectory, current applications and core challenges of medical foundation models (MFM), and to assess their potential and limitations in clinical transformation.Method/Process Through a systematic literature review, the technical evolution of MFMs from general-purpose foundation models to domain-specific medical adaptations is analyzed. Its key challenges in terms of data, models and ethics are analyzed. Result/Conclusion MFM can effectively enhance the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment as well as the credibility of decision-making through technologies such as multimodal fusion and retrieval augmentation. However, data silos, algorithmic biases and generation uncertainties limit its large-scale application. In the future, it is necessary to promote its evolution towards interpretable and verifiable medical agents, and build a coordinated ecosystem that integrates technological innovation, data governance and ethical supervision to promote the safe and sustainable development of MFM.