Nearly 190,000 resident doctors have been through the standardized training program for medical graduates since 2014, according to China’s top health authority.

Qin Huaijin, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s health science, technology and education department, revealed the figure at a news conference on Jan 25.

“The central government has so far earmarked 12.6 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) for the relatively new training program among doctors, aimed at enhancing capacity,” he said.

This money was largely used for infrastructure upgrades and subsidies for resident doctors in training, according to Qin.

Starting 2014, the top health authority began promoting the standardized training program, which lasts about four years.

Last year, nearly 80 percent of China’s medical graduates entered the program.