自学考试 - Becoming a Doctor

[pprendeville]

My wife just got off the phone with her sister. She's Chinese, I'm Irish. I asked her how her sis is doing and as usual things sound very complicated. Her sister quit her job recently (she was working in some sort of training centre though not sure what exactly she was doing). She has gone back to live in the countryside with her husband as they have a daughter who I can only assume was being looked after by the inlaws. Her husband had previously setup some sort of medical practice/shop in his village but not sure what has happened to that either. I think he had some qualifications in medicine. He is now doing self-study (自学考试) apparently to become a doctor. I'm not sure how this works but to me it sounds bizarre that you can become a doctor by doing an exam after studying on your own. Would someone mind explaining this to me. I think standard procedure for becoming a doctor in most countries would be attending a recognised Medical Unoversity for about 5 yers where one would receive receive proper training and tuition from qualified specialists with experience. I find the idea of being treated by a doctor who has learned from a book on their own not very inspiring. Details are always hazy when finding out people's professions in China and how they obtained them (at least in my in-laws case). 

[liuzhou]

Yes. Basically you are correct. A fully qualified doctor has to go through the university / medical school system as elsewhere.

However, in the countryside there is a real shortage of medical staff (Why would anyone qualified want to work there? Much better to work in a city where you can over-prescribe drugs and get a kickback while charging a fortune to treat the insurance covered party members and other elites.)

As a result, so-called "barefoot doctors" are able to make some sort of living in rural areas. Some may have a rudimentary knowledge of medicine; some are close to being witchdoctors; some are total charlatans.

[dnevets]

I know a guy that dropped out of his medicine degree in the first year and still managed to set up a clinic of some description, prescribing and administering medicines etc. Sometimes he'd let his friends (with absolutely no medical training) inject the medicines into patients. He managed to get away with this for a few years until he decided on a career change and he never ran into any trouble, so I assume this was at least semi-legal, somehow...?

[pprendeville]

So how many exams do you need to take or how long do you have to study for to become a doctor by studying on your own? I find that completely mad that you can just read a book, do an exam and become a doctor. Is there not at least something like a practical test or work experience? How about in smaller towns - not necessarily rural villages? Would they have properly qualified doctors.

The last time we were over in 2010 my sister-in-law had an eye infection and went to the local hospital (it looked like something from the 1940s - I'm not being critical, just making an observation). We went to visit and I was asked could I translate the instructions, along with my wife for a complicated looking medical device which must have been imported from a Western country. It had no Chinese instructions.

[abcdefg]

I don't know the facts in the situation you described, but it's possible that your brother-in-law graduated from medical school but did not pass the licensing exam. This is not rare in China. He may now be studying in order to re-take the exam and get a passing score. Then he will be eligible to practice in a city. Meanwhile he must work in a lesser capacity in a village clinic. He (and his wife) may not be overly clear about his status because they are embarrassed. Of course, this is just my guess, and might be wrong.