Apprenticeship is an important part of the standardized training of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) residents. The purpose of its combination with the standardized training in wards is to ensure that trainees not only possess standard TCM ways of thinking but also form personalized thinking patterns. However

in the process of practice

neither tutors nor students were enthusiastic about apprentice training

as a result of which it became a mere formality. In view of this

the present paper analyzed the reasons why the policy of apprentice system could not be well implemented

based on which suggestions were offered from three perspectives: flexible arrangement of apprenticeship timetable

improvement in the two-way selection between mentors and apprentices

and apprenticeship training in the form of teams

in order to better implement the apprenticeship in the standardized training of TCM residents.