Objective — to study the personal and social motives of clinical residents towards training in clinical residency. Subject and methods. The personal and social motives to learn were studied in 28 clinical residents from the Moscow Regional Research Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology; among them there were 14 residents who and had completed first-year courses and 14 residents who had second-year courses. The study used anonymous testing, including a procedure to diagnose educational motivation and aims of clinical residents, as well as examination of the degree of burnout syndrome. Results. The results of studying the clinical residents’ motivation to train necessitate transition to personalized learning methods through the available forms of problem-solving, developing and distance learning, by increasing the training time in the initial practice period. Conclusion. It will be relevant to introduce a new postgraduate training principle, by setting up a physician coaching institute, by attracting experienced and qualified professionals. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.