According to an article in Guangming Daily, China is facing a severe shortage of pediatricians. The article said that Shanghai Pediatric Hospital published statistics showing that there is less that 1 pediatrician for each 1,000 children in Shanghai. Their number was between 0.5 to 0.6 per 1,000.
The information released by the Website for China Medical Profession Talent Pool had similar findings. The website quoted the data from the Pediatrician Division of the China Medical Doctors’ Association which showed that the average number of pediatricians in China for one thousand children was only 0.26. This means there is a shortage of over 200,000 pediatricians. Some of the reasons that people are not attracted to this profession are the high risk, a heavy workload, limited personal growth, and low pay. The website stated that in 2012, most pediatricians worked over 10 hours a day in a hospital and had almost no time off on weekends.
Another concern in the pediatrics profession is an inconsistency in education and job skills between hospitals and clinics in urban and rural regions. College pediatrics graduates tend to be centralized in urban hospitals. Only 3.4 percent of the pediatricians in rural regions have college graduate degrees, while 28.8 percent holds associate degrees, and 54.2 percent are graduates from vocational schools.
Source:
Guangming Daily, June 28, 2013
http://politics.gmw.cn/2013-06/28/content_8101470.htm
Website for China Medical Profession Talent Pool, April 16, 2013
http://www.120job.cn/News/12831.html