Competency-based medical education (CBME) emphasizes the acquisition of clearly defined, observable competencies aligned with clinical practice needs. Psychosomatic medicine service competency (PMSC) is increasingly recognized as essential for general practitioners (GPs) delivering holistic, biopsychosocial primary care. However, the extent to which PMSC is incorporated into China’s General Practice Standardized Residency Training Program (SRTP) from a CBME perspective remains unclear. A national cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to August 2024. Training base representatives (e.g., program directors, teaching coordinators, and core faculty) from general practice residency training bases across mainland China were invited to complete an online questionnaire using convenience sampling. The survey explored training content, teaching strategies, evaluation methods, and institutional challenges among training practices for PMSC in SRTP. A total of 200 questionnaires were distributed, and 193 valid responses were received (response rate: 96.5%). While basic PMSC such as communication skills and empathy were reportedly covered in most programs, only a minority offered structured training in managing specific conditions. Less than 40% of programs employed interactive learning methods such as role-playing, multidisciplinary collaboration, or situational teaching. Major barriers identified included a lack of standardized curricula, insufficient qualified faculty, and limited institutional prioritization. Despite these gaps, 94.3% of respondents expressed strong support for enhancing PMSC for GPs in SRTP. PMSC training within China’s GP SRTP shows suboptimal alignment with CBME principles. Advancing psychosomatic education will likely require explicit competency definitions, structured workplace-based learning, and competency-oriented assessment. Given the convenience sampling design and reliance on institutional self-reporting by training base representatives, findings should be interpreted cautiously and may not directly reflect trainees’ experiences or actual competency attainment.
Jiang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.