China Subsidizes Medical Students for Rural Health Services

Chinese authorities have announced plans to waive the tuition fees for an additional 55-hundred medical students in rural areas this year, provided they agree to stay in the countryside after graduation.

This is part of a program launched by the government in 2010 to try to improve rural health services in China.

Students who sign-up to the program will have to agree to spend at least 6-years practicing medicine in the rural areas.

Liao Bin with Sichuan Medical University says those who agree to sign-on will also be eligible for scholarships and monthly stipends.

"We offer allowances to the students who take part in the training to become resident physicians. They are given 3-thousand yuan each per month during their freshman year; 35-hundred yuan for sophmores and 4-thousand yuan per month for 3rd year students."
The first batch of students who orignally joined the program 5-years ago are set to graduate this month.

Li Lisha from Sichuan Medical University is one of them.

"I signed a contract with the Health Bureau in my hometown, so after graduation I'm going back to where I came from."

The program also includes other incentives, including guaranteed promotions and subsidized housing.

Around 26-thousand students, mostly with rural backgrounds, have joined the program since it was launched in 2010.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)