Differences in Medical Education System in China and Australia - Case Study Example

DIСАL ЕDUСАTIОN SYSTЕM IN СHINА АND АUSTRАLIА By Name Class (Course) Instructor (Tutor) Institution The City and State The Date МЕDIСАL ЕDUСАTIОN SYSTЕM IN СHINА АND АUSTRАLIА Introduction Medical education is that education related to the training of becoming a medical practitioner by either training initially in a medical school and internship to become a physician or adding the level of training thereafter like fellowship. Medical education systems differ in every country meaning that medical students undergo different training. The medical education system varies among countries because it depends on many factors like the social environment of the country. In this essay we are going to compare the medical education of China and Australia and also examine the key challenges that medical education in china face and how to solve them. The Differences in Medical Education Systems Basic Medical Education and Training Methods Used- presently china has five medical education levels that starts from technical secondary school, college level, undergraduate level, postgraduate level and lastly the PHD level. For any student to practice medicine in china he/she must go through all the five levels and then get accredited by the government. Despite china having a large number of technical and tertiary education schools the number of master’s programs is very small. Australia on the other hand conduct undergraduate medical education that provides masters and doctoral programs. This means that a huge number of medical students have master’s degrees (Marginson, 2006: 20). Curriculum Provision- the curriculum in most medical colleges in China is still centered on traditional discipline that basically includes public elementary courses, basic medical course and clinical practices. This kind of curriculum emphasizes on discipline theory knowledge systems and integrity but there is no connection between theory and practice. This differs from that of Australia where undergraduate nursing courses are made of fundamental nursing, nursing research and application, biological science, social science and clinical practice. Fundamental nursing is where medical students learn how to handle emergencies in the field while social science teaches them about ethics politics and cultures and how they affect the nursing field. Syllabus and teaching activities- medical colleges in Australia puts more emphasis on cultural development of students and giving them knowledge on humanities and community nursing. This kind of syllabus reflects the “Biological-Psychological-Social Medical” model that have a very lose connection with practice and theoretical learning. China medical colleges on the other hand are mainly interested on clinical nursing. Students are taught the classification of clinical diseases which include labor education and focus on political and professional knowledge. The students do not do clinical practice until the theoretical learning is over and it takes a period of one year (Xue & Story, 2006: 775). How Medical Students Are Evaluated- in Australia students are tested through various procedures which include both written and oral reports and clinical ability tests. Australian government through education departments and Association of State Boards of Nursing constantly review the standards of medical colleges (Prideaux, 2009: 96). China on the other hand stresses on theory meaning that written examination is their mode of evaluation. After one year students are then tested on theoretical and clinical ability. Although the system does not test students on the ability to solve problems that are related to this field. Challenges Confronting Medical Education in China Rapidly Changing Technology- The rate at which technology is changing is a major challenge to how medical education is being offered in china. There is always the urge to embrace new technology so as to offer better services to the citizens. This therefore forces the government to use more advanced technologies to teach medical students so that they don’t become irrelevant when they go to the field because they are not familiar with the technology used. The changing technology becomes a challenge because to attain it comes at a very high cost. The cost of maintaining the technology is also very high and this affects how medical education is being offered. Low Salaries- Young specialists and residents in china are extremely disappointed with the amount of salary they are getting. A Chinese doctor working in either the secondary or tertiary hospitals is paid about US$780 per month which is even lower for those young doctors on the training programme. This salary is very low compared to other countries that are on the same level as China. The relatively lower incomes have made training Chinese doctors to lose the enthusiasm of continuing with the study and even regret why they choose that field. The number of students willing to study medicine has gone down and those undertaking it are considering dropping out of the training programme. Poor Working and Learning Environments- the learning and working environment of doctors in China has deteriorated significantly in the last few years. With China ageing demography and the new imposed child policy the workload on each doctor is increasing every day. A study indicates that a specialist doctor attends to more than 50 patients in the outpatient hospital. This kind of workload has affected doctors negatively and some have even died tragically due to workload. This issue affects the medical education in china and it needs to be addressed by inviting more trainees into the profession (Ren & Roy, 2008: 669). Corruption in Medical Education- China medical education system is facing fraudulent practices and it is proving to be a big challenge to this sector. Many medical colleges in China decide to get help from other institutes doctors who are qualified in order to pass inspections at a return fee. The teaching hospitals use healthy people who pretend to be sick during inspections so that they can show they have the required number of patients to provide clinical experience to medical students. This thereafter leaves the students with nothing to practice with and the medical education is greatly affected (Altbach & Knight, 2007: 298). Students who are aspiring to become doctors pay bribes to get admissions to medical colleges even if they have not attained the right grades to go to a medical college. Some parents feel that because they have money their children can take any course they want even if they don’t have the mettle to do it. This lastly leads to doctors who have no passion on the field and becomes problematic to the patients. The same medical colleges that accept bribes issues out fake degrees meaning that most of the china doctors are unqualified and lack formal training. Emphasis on Rote Learning than Clinical Skills- colleges that offer medical education assumes that anyone who is able to memorize lots of information can be an excellent doctor. Exams that are being undertaken to test students are based on rote learning but neglect the humanitarian criterion which is more important in this field of medical education. China medical education does not use objective structured clinical exams to evaluate its medical students meaning that they are only tested when they start practicing and this can be fatal. Medical students should be prepared to be asked questions based on real clinical cases and real drugs which is far much better (Lam & Ip, 2006: 945). A Syllabus and Teaching style that is Outdated- the medical field experiences regular breakthroughs everyday but China medical studies are not updated to be at the same level. Different science fields are separated from each other owing to an incomplete understanding of how different bases of knowledge can be put together for better implementation. Medical education is always teacher centered a case which does not apply the new technology like the other countries. The syllabus does not emphasis on research by students but it teaches them to continue practicing the known only. This will prove to be problematic in future when newer diseases arise that will need research from students who never learned how to it. Improvements Needed to Address the Situation. The government needs to invest heavily on new technology because it is the main theme in providing good medical care to patients. The same technology should be availed to medical colleges so that it can be used by training students. This will provide an opportunity to the students to familiarize with the technology before they start practicing what they have learnt. Medical colleges will be able to focus all of its resources on recruiting more teachers to train medical students a situation that will greatly improve medical education in China. Better salaries should be given to already working doctors and those that are in the training programme. As a result, many people will be encouraged to join the medical collages and study medicine. This will translate to many medical students graduating and it will address the issue of doctor patient ratio that is currently affecting many government hospitals in china. Doctors will also not go to other countries in search of hospitals that are paying well. They will get motivated to work in their own country and give the best they can to the patients. Medical colleges should put more emphasis on learning clinical skills rather than rote learning. The exams set by medical colleges should test the student ability to perform clinical operation that will make him/her gain experience before getting into the field. Real clinical cases and drugs will teach medical students what is really required of the when they start practicing medicine. The training should also focus on instilling social accountability to medical students as health practitioners. Every medical education has to be aligned together with societal needs and students should be made aware about rural and social issues. The syllabus used in teaching medical students should be reviewed so that it can include the recent emerging issues. Students should be encouraged to learn by doing research on emerging diseases. By doing this they will be well equipped to deal with emerging issues in the health care as they will do research and come up with medicines or vaccines. Serious penalties should be set for those who engage in corruption practices as they greatly affect the education system. Medical colleges who engage in corruption practices should have their license revoked and those involved judged by law. Conclusion Although China has the best medical education system compared to other countries serious adjustments and improvements need to be done. The medical students should be prepared to deal with the aging population and the child policy which requires the personnel of medical field. The government should play its part by injecting more money to this sector because if not well funded the country may head into serious problems. The medical colleges should also do their part of providing quality education to students as that is what they are mandated to do. Lastly students should practice medicine in relation to the set rules and regulations in order to provide better health care. References Altbach, P.G. and Knight, J., 2007. The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of studies in international education, 11(3-4), pp.290-305. Marginson, S., 2006. Dynamics of national and global competition in higher education. Higher education, 52(1), pp.1-39. Xue, C.C., Wu, Q., Zhou, W.Y., Yang, W.H. and Story, D.F., 2006. Comparison of Chinese medicine education and training in China and Australia. ANNALS-ACADEMY OF MEDICINE SINGAPORE, 35(11), p.775. Lam, T.P., Wan, X.H. and Ip, M.S.M., 2006. Current perspectives on medical education in China. Medical education, 40(10), pp.940-949. Ren, X., Yin, J., Wang, B. and Roy Schwarz, M., 2008. A descriptive analysis of medical education in China. Medical teacher, 30(7), pp.667-672. Prideaux, D., 2009. Medical education in Australia: Much has changed but what remains?. Medical +teacher, 31(2), pp.96-100. Read More