Thinkings on the reform of medical education system in China

Figures & data

Table 1. The main clinical medicine programs in China.

Program	Admission Requirement	Length of schooling	Degree provided	Certificate of the SRT	Education goal	Career orientation
3-year secondary school medical program	junior middle school graduates	3 years	secondary vocational diploma	no	to meet healthcare needs in community and rural area	to work as assistant medical practitioners to receive junior college education or GP training
3-year junior college medical program	senior middle school graduates	3 years	associate degree	no	to meet healthcare needs in community and rural area	to work as (assistant) medical practitioners to receive undergraduate education or GP training
5-year medical program	senior middle school graduates	5 years	bachelor’s degree	no	to cultivate primary clinicians with basic clinical competence	to work in primary or comprehensive medical institutions after the SRT to receive postgraduate education
5+3 medical program	senior middle school graduates	8 years	master of medicine	yes	to cultivate high-level clinicians with good clinical competence	to work in comprehensive medical institutions to receive doctoral education
8-year medical program	senior middle school graduates	8 years	doctor of philosophy	no	to cultivate high-level and high-quality medical talents	to work in comprehensive medical institutions after the SRT to receive postdoc education
4+4 medical program	bachelor’s degree (non-medicine major)	4 years	doctor of philosophy	no	to cultivate high-level compound medical talents with multi-disciplinary background	to work in comprehensive medical institutions after the SRT to receive postdoc education
9-year medical program	senior middle school graduates	9 years	medical doctor	yes	to cultivate high-level medical talents with clinical competence and research capacity	to work in comprehensive medical institutions to receive postdoc education

Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; SRT, standardized resident training.

Figure 1. Training period of different medical programs in China. Different medical programs require different lengths of schooling to cultivate medical practitioners. It should be noted that the master’s education with professional degree and the 9-year medical program simultaneously contain the SRT. Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; A, academic degree; P, professional degree; NMLE, national medical licensing examination.

Figure 2. The suggested cultivation process in the medical education system. Abbreviations: MB, bachelor of medicine; MS, master of medical science; PhD, doctor of philosophy; SRT, standardized resident training; MM, master of medicine; GP, general practitioner; MD, doctor of medicine; DoGP, doctor of general practice.

Data availability statement

The data are available from the corresponding authors upon request.