Effect of Residency Standardized Training on the Pass Rate of the Practicing Physician Examination in Medical Graduates of Rural Compulsory Services Program

Background To strengthen the construction of health talents team in rural areas, a national compulsory services program (CSP) was started in 2010 in China. In 2015, the state required graduates of the CSP to participate in a 3-year standardized training for residents (residency) upon graduation. Objective To understand the participation of CSP graduates in residency, analyze the effect of residency on the pass rate of the practicing physician's examination for CSP graduates, and explore the significance of residency on the training of CSP graduates and the rural primary health workforce, so as to provide policy recommendations for the high-quality training of CSP graduates. Methods Starting in 2015, a cohort of CSP graduates was established from a total of 4 colleges undertaking CSP training programs in 3 provinces in the Midwest of China, and 1∶1 general clinical graduates who graduated the same year were selected as controls and followed up annually. Descriptive analysis was used to show the status of CSP g