Degree of pediatrician to be reinstated
February 29, 2016 Category Health, Weekly
China has a shortage of pediatricians, with a little more than 93,400 practicing in 2014, half the number needed. Medical experts expect the situation to worsen as the switch to the two-child policy begins to have an effect. About 3 million more children are expected to be born every year under the two-child policy, which came into effect on January 1, and applies to all married couples. National Health and Family Planning Commission announced it would bring back pediatrics as a major in medical schools in an effort to address the severe shortage. By 2020 each province would need to have at least one medical school offering an undergraduate major degree in pediatrics. In addition, by that time each province would also need to have at least 10,000 postgraduate students who had majored in pediatrics at undergraduate level. The news is likely to be welcomed by doctors who have been petitioning for the return of the major since it was cut by the Ministry of Education in 1999. The move had been blamed for a gradual loss of interest in the speciality by medical school students, who were also put off by its long hours, low pay and potential for tension with patients’ families. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said the number of pediatricians had dropped from 105,000 to less than 100,000 in the past five years, or 0.43 to every 1,000 children, as opposed to 2.06 doctors to every 1,000 patients in general. The Chinese Medical Doctor Association estimates 200,000 more pediatricians are needed.
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