The Role and Scope of Private Medical Practice in China

Chapter 3. Result part 3
Table 25. Profile of doctors by provinces and urban/rural area
All
(N=656)
Guangdong
(N=240)
Province
Shanxi
(N=202)
Sichuan
(N=214)
Urban
(N=353)
Residential area
Rural
(N=303)
Gender
Male 58.1 72.5 46.5 52.8 *** 56.4 60.1
Female 41.9 27.5 53.5 47.2 43.6 39.9
Age
Mean (SD) 40.5 (12.2) 42.1 (12.4) 41.9 (12.8) 37.3 (10.6) *** 42.5 38.1 (11.2) ***
(12 6)
Annual Income (yuan)
Less than 10000 38.4 7.5 65.8 47.2 *** 31.4 46.5 ***
10000-19999 31.6 32.1 23.8 38.3 24.9 39.3
20000-29999 13.0 21.7 6.4 9.3 15.0 10.6
30000 and above 17.1 38.8 4.0 5.1 28.6 3.6
Educational level
Primary & secondary school 2.3 2.1 3.0 1.9 *** 0.8 4.0 ***
High school 34.5 18.8 41.1 46.0 20.4 51.0
College 35.7 36.7 35.6 34.7 36.0 35.4
University 27.5 42.5 20.3 17.4 42.8 9.6
Type of medical training
Western-style univ or
medical college
74.2 83.8 63.9 73.4 *** 75.1 73.3 *
Chinese traditional medical
univ or college
17.5 10.4 22.3 21.0 19.3 15.5
Others, self-trained, learned
from experienced masters
8.2 5.8 13.9 5.6 5.7 11.2
Practice settings
Public hospital 35.0 24.6 30.3 50.9 *** 31.2 39.4 *
Public clinic 20.6 25.0 29.9 7.0 21.2 19.9
Private hospital 16.6 25.0 14.4 9.3 19.8 12.9
Private clinic 27.8 25.4 25.4 32.7 27.8 27.8
Length of medical training
less than 3 yrs 10.1 5.8 10.9 14.0 *** 6.8 13.9 ***
3-3.9 yrs 40.5 35.8 43.6 43.0 31.4 51.2
4-4.9 yrs 16.9 14.2 14.9 22.0 15.3 18.8
5 yrs and above 32.4 44.2 30.7 21 46.4 16.2
Overall rating of the present health care system
Overall, 32% rated the present health care system in their province as “good
and very good”.
There were differences in opinion between the provinces and between public
and private practitioners, with doctors from Guangdong (49%) and the private sector
(44%) giving significantly higher ratings (Table 26).
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