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 Rising demand for health care has far outpaced the increase in the
supply of doctors. Between 2005 and 2018, the number of fully
licensed doctors nearly doubled, but the number of hospital
admissions nearly quadrupled, according to Chinese government data.
The result is a vicious cycle, doctors and industry consultants say.
"There are less doctors to see more patients, and the patients are
frustrated that they don't get more time with doctors, and they take
that out on the doctors, and those doctors go home and tell their
kids never to become a doctor," said Scott Rein, founding principal
of China Healthcare Advisory Group, a Shanghai-based consultancy
that advises hospital operators, investors and physicians' groups.
Chinese doctors face unusual risks. Verbal and physical assaults are
common. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese doctors have been involved in
disputes, according to the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, an
industry group.
In December, a man killed a doctor at a Beijing hospital after a
disagreement over his mother's care.
"Every doctor has experienced some kind of abuse," said He Jiye, an
orthopedic surgeon in Shanghai.
Although China has public and private medical care, most top doctors
are at public hospitals, which attract the most patients. Jane Xiao,
a pediatrician in Xiamen, in southeast China, said that one doctor
might see more than 100 children for physicals in one morning at the
hospital where she works.
The government has tried to relieve pressure on public hospitals by
promoting community hospitals and allowing public system doctors to
also work at private clinics. But some public hospitals threaten to
fire those who moonlight elsewhere, one doctor said.
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Pay is another issue. Only 8.1 percent of medical workers are happy with their
wages, according to a 2018 survey by DXY, a Chinese online platform for
healthcare information.
Many students who study medicine do not go on to practice it, doctors say.
Better pay and working conditions at pharmaceutical companies, among other
professions, lure medical students and professionals, doctors say.
The Feb. 7 death of Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist who was among the first to
call attention to the coronavirus, and the death of the director of a Wuhan
hospital this week have called attention to the risks those treating the disease
face.
More than 1,700 medical staff have been infected and six have died, the National
Health Commission said last week.
In recent weeks, Chinese state news agencies and images on social media have
depicted the exhausting conditions that engulf doctors battling the epidemic.
But doctors told Reuters they doubted the crisis would lead to a long-term
improvement in their reputation.
A Feb. 14 post on Weibo, the Twitter-like social media platform, read: "This
epidemic has shown how lacking in resources our medical system is. And with all
the evil attacks on doctors in recent years, there will definitely be fewer
people willing to study medicine."
(Reporting By Alexandra Harney. Additional reporting by Beijing and Shanghai
newsrooms. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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