Medical graduates reluctant to look west for career
Print Edition
WHILE job seekers make their way to crowded first-tier cities, the far west faces a shortage of skilled medical staff.
In Wuqi County, the “red cradle” of the Chinese revolution, in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, Hu Zhilu, head of the brand-new People’s Hospital of Wuqi, with a spacious outpatient lobby, escalators and wide corridors, is worried.
The job hunting season is drawing to an end and the hospital is offering annual salaries of 500,000 yuan (US$80,000) to medical experts and 150,000 yuan to young doctors. Very few resumes have been received. The average annual income of local residents was only 9,110 yuan last year.
Figures from the Ministry of Education show 7.27 million graduates will hit the streets in 2014, a year labeled as the most difficult employment season on record. A decade ago, only 2.8 million graduates came onto the job market.
“There are so many people looking for jobs. I am wondering why we, the best hospital at county level in northwest China, failing to attract medical talent,” Hu asked.
More than 1,000 kilometers away in Beijing, Wang Lili, a postgraduate with the medical school of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, may have an answer to his question.
Wang has been busy at career fairs. Her goal is to stay in a first-tier city like Beijing or Shanghai. Her second choice is provincial capitals, such as Xi’an and Zhengzhou.
“The salary in Wuqi is attractive, but it is located in the far west and at county level,” she said. Her view is echoed by many graduates.
A report on employment pressure on university students in 2014 showed only six percent would like to work in counties and less than 1 percent chose towns.
More than half of respondents attach the highest importance to career development when looking for jobs. They think there are more opportunities in first-tier cities or provincial capitals.
“Top hospitals in bigger cities mean better salaries, welfare and a brighter future,” Wang said, adding that young doctors can get better guidance and see a greater variety of cases in top hospitals.
Hu Zhilu’s hospital only receives about 500 patients each day. Beijing’s top hospitals last year saw about 700,000 patients per day, according to the National Health and Family Planning commission.
A long way to go
Since 2000, China’s “Go West” strategy — developing its western region through infrastructure construction, ecological protection, education and talent retention — has achieved great success.
“But rural counties and towns still have a long way to go,” said Feng Lei, an official with the development and reform commission in Shaanxi.
With a tougher employment climate as the economy slows, preferential policies will encourage graduates to work at grassroots or start businesses to boost jobs, the State Council announced in mid May.
Back in Shaanxi, Hu said Wuqi County had lots to offer.
“We have plenty of room for improvement, but I suggest the class of 2014 give it a try. Perhaps they will make new discoveries,” Hu said.
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