Abstract Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) rotations bring together residents from multiple specialties. Comparisons of exit performance may be distorted when departments differ in postgraduate-year (PGY) composition and when non-equivalent examination forms are used across PGY levels. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of ICU exit examination records from 412 residents at a tertiary teaching hospital in China between November 2025 and April 2026.
