Seven members of the CMB-supported China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals for Residency Education conducted an October workshop in Chengdu to initiate action for coordinated and systematic improvement of their residency training programs. Hosted by West China Medical Center of Sichuan University, the workshop included leaders of six other hospitals (Peking Union, Peking, Fudan, Central South, Sun Yat-sen, and Zhejiang) and senior representatives of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Self-study identifies priority problems for reform, the beginning of a change process. To learn of experiences in other countries, two presentations sparked discussion. Former CMB Trustee Tom Inui summarized self-study methodologies used in the United States and Canada, and Shirley Ooi, associate professor of emergency medicine at the National University Health System in Singapore, shared the Singapore experience. Singapore recently joined the peer-reviewed accreditation process of the U.S. ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education).

In December, based at the CMB Beijing office, the seven consortium members began formulating a plan of action for the next two years that will include workshops, study tours, and advisory inputs of faculty from other countries. The Consortium hopes to generate products such as policies, standards, models, and publications that can be shared with institutions throughout China.

CMB has made a long-term commitment to working with Chinese institutions on postgraduate medical education, with a particular focus on elevating the importance of clinical education. CMB views self-study as an effective mechanism to incentivize, train, and gain support of teaching faculty, and prioritize actions for reform of residency training.