Biggest institute of pediatrics set up in Shanghai
In order to boost domestic pediatrician training and pediatric capability, the nation’s biggest institute of pediatrics was established at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Medicine today.
China suffers a great shortage of pediatricians and the situation will further worsen after the government allowed all couples to have a second child, experts said.
There are 135,000 pediatricians in the nation, which will have a population of 292 million children by 2020. This means the nation lacks around 85,000 pediatricians according to the target of 69 pediatricians for every 100,000 children.
The shortage was worsened by a continuous talent drain, as many pediatricians quit their job in hospitals due to low income, high workload and tough relationships between doctors and patients.
Shanghai has some 2,800 pediatricians, serving about 2.5 million children below 14 years of age. One piece of research found 269 pediatricians quit their job between 2011 and 2014, totaling 11.6 percent of all pediatricians in the city.
“It is a must to tighten up pediatrician cultivation in China, which hasn’t given enough awareness and support for pediatrics development in a long time,” said Chen Guoqiang, head of Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Medicine.
Sun Kun, president of Xinhua Hospital and head of the newly established institute of pediatrics, said a scientific and professional pediatric training and cultivation system will be set up in the institute to cultivate high-end pediatric professionals and attract more high school graduates.
