Doctors in China are underpaid relative to the amount of time they put into school and work. Their status in society is, therefore, artificially low since status in China is largely conferred by the amount of money one earns. They know this to be true. The government knows it to be true. But, it is also true that the number of doctors in China is very small. So, politically, the doctors have a lot of leverage to do what they want to since a strike or something to that effect would cripple an already hobbling healthcare system.

The political compromise is that doctors are de facto allowed to take in funds through grey channels. The government makes a big show out of condemning the practice, but can’t actually take any actions to stop it until they 1) Up salaries, or 2) give doctors full freedom to go private.

The Chinese do have to be given a lot of credit for actively working to change their health system. What has to be understood is that they have made unprecedented strides in health system improvement since the early 1980s when the term “healthcare professional” was most widely associated with barefoot doctors or TCM practitioners. They are on their way, and unhindered by the state-level political considerations that are so prevalent in other nations. The political compromises they have to make with interest groups like doctors are much easier to deal with.

Knowledgeable Chinese that have studied abroad or who read articles by climbing the Wall know that there is a better way to receive health care in other parts of the world, do they not?

What are your thought?