acasc

1. THE HUNDRED-YEAR DEVELOPMENT FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION IN
CHINA.
Currently, thereare about 180 medicalschools in China. All of these medical
schools have been established and maintained by the government. Among
them, 77 are freestandingmedical colleges, 64 are within comprehensive
universities, and 39 are secondary medicalschools. www.hebeinu.org.cn/
Generally, the medical education system in China consists of two levels: the
high-school level of vocational training (3-year programs)and the university
level of medicaleducation (5, 7, or 8-year programs). The number of students
enrolled annually isdramatically increasing: it was estimated that morethan
60 000 high school graduateswere admitted in 1997, 140000in 2000, and
280 000 in 2004. Suchan over enrollmentresults in insufficienteducational
resourcesand nationwideconcern about the quality of education.
Alongwith the scientific, socioeconomic, and culturaldevelopmentof Chinese
society, the medical education system in China is undergoingmajor reforms.
These innovationsinvolvechangesto the educationalsystem, curricula,
teaching methods, assessmentsystems, and other aspects.
http://www.hebeinu.org.cn/blog/duration-of-medical-courses-in-china.html
The medicaleducation system in Chinawas originally based on the former
Soviet Union model, in which medicalschools were set up as separate
universitiesor colleges. Oneof the dramatic changes in the education system
duringthe past decade has been the merger of freestandingmedical
universitieswith nonmedicaluniversitiesto create comprehensive
universities.
Medicaleducation in China can be 3, 5, 7, or 8 years long; of these, 5-year
programsare the most common. The main objective of the 3-year programs
was to producemedicalpersonnelfor ruralareas. However, owingto the
increasing number of university-levelmedicalgraduatesand the increasing
societal demand for better-trained physicians, these programshave largely
ceased to exist.

2. A recent reform led by the Ministry of Education is the adjustmentto the
length of study; namely, to develop longer study programs. This reform willbe
carried outsteadily on a step-by-step basis. At present, 5-year programsare
the backbone of China’smedical education, while 8-year programsare
simultaneously beingemphasized; in time, moreand more 8-year programs
will be developed. It is expected that, in 20 years’ time, 3-year programswill
be completely phased out and 8-year programswill become the dominant
training programsin China.
The purposesof the adjustmentare: to meet the currentand future
requirementsof society, the nationalhealthcare service system, and the
developmentof science and technology; to follow the trend of globalization in
medical education and to comply with the global standardsfor medical
education; to improvethe quality of medical education and to cultivate high-
quality medicalprofessionals; and to make better use of educational
resources.
In conclusion, the currentinnovations in medical education in Chinaare very
active. However, morereformsare still needed. Residency trainingprograms,
the national examination system for a medical license, and continuingmedical
education are some of the targets that need to be improved in China’s medical
education.