Can medical residency keep young specialists in the place where they graduate? Cross-sectional and exploratory study of the first seven years after implementation of medical residency programs in the State of Tocantins, Brazil.

Background: New medical schools and new medical residencies in Brazil, mainly in its interior, were opened under the justification of collaborating towards distribution of these healthcare professionals and specialist doctors across the national territory. However, this proposal did not guarantee that medical practitioners would become established in the place where they graduated and specialized.

Objective: To calculate, through interviews, how many specialists who graduated in the state of Tocantins stayed there after finishing their medical residency; and to analyze the factors that made them stay or leave the place.