ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Medical specialists are an essential resource for the functioning of the health system and in Chile there is a growing deficit of these specialists. To address this shortage, the government has strategies for training health professionals, such as a national public contest for medical scholarships, named CONISS, which stands out for its high capacity to produce medical specialists. The scoring system of this contest is used for the allocation of training resources to the best candidates. AIM: To describe the results of the CONISS scoring system between 2016 and 2020. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Analysis of public registries of physicians participating in the CONISS contest between 2016 and 2020. RESULTS: During the study period 7,373 physicians participated in this contest (49% females). Annual participation increased progressively. The participants graduated from 21 Chilean universities and a variable number from foreign universities. The scores obtained by participants improved by 1.47 points between the first and last year of the study period. CONCLUSIONS: Interpretation of these results is complicated by the characteristics and limitations of the measurements of the CONISS scoring system. This precludes establishing whether this system effectively filters out the best candidates for medical specialization programs.