Shanghai trains GPs to work at community centers
Local health authorities are collaborating with premier medical schools and district-based health commissions to train general practitioners to deal with citizens battling common and chronic diseases at community-based medical facilities.
Officials revealed on Wednesday that Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine is collaborating with 66 community health centers and has the support of five top public hospitals in the initiative.
The measure is one of several reforms being considered by the city to establish a GP training mechanism.
Since 2001, the medical school has built a general medicine education training center and has trained hundreds of general practitioners in community health centers.
"We have renovated the training content and offered training on regular diagnosis and treatment of children's fever, health management of elderly people, rehabilitation and nursing for elderly losing mobility, chronic pain treatment, sports injury rehabilitation, and mental health management, which are desperately needed in the grassroots," said Fan Xianqun, the head of the medical school.
"Our courses are what grassroots GPs require the most. The training initiative can help GPs enhance their skills in disease evaluation, serious patient transfer, and post-surgery rehabilitation. All of this is required by residents at the grassroots level," he said.
A medic at Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center provides rehabilitation services to a patient.
The city has 249 community health facilities offering basic and convenient medical, rehabilitation, and nursing services to residents.
Jin Ying, director of Dapuqiao Neighborhood Health Center, said that such training is critical for grassroots facilities.
"Many residents have doubts about GPs' abilities and prefer going all the way to crowded public hospitals instead of nearby community facilities," she said.
"Only if we improve our GPs' capabilities can residents trust us and consult us for medical issues."
