Parents line up with their children as they wait to see a doctor at Beijing Children's Hospital in this file photo taken in February. Provided to China Daily

Hospitals come under pressure as field fails to attract doctors, medical students

Beijing hospitals are suffering a serious shortage of pediatricians, with many doctors put off by the high pressure and low wages, health experts have warned.

The capital has just 2,000 pediatricians to treat roughly 3 million youngsters under 14, according to estimates by the Beijing Medical Professionals' Association.

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"Last year, we received 6,900 patients a day on average, with the number even hitting 10,000 at peak times," said Hou Xiaoju, a press spokesman for Beijing Children's Hospital. "We only have 500 doctors, which is far short of the demand."

The Capital Institute of Pediatrics, which is the only other specialist child care clinic in the city, also treats about 6,000 patients a day. Both hospitals often have lines of patients outside stretching for hundreds of meters in the summer.

According to health bureau data collected at the 100 capital hospitals with pediatric units on Jan 14, Beijing Children's Hospital and the Capital Institute of Pediatrics handled 60 percent of all patients, roughly 11,000.

Most other hospitals received less than 100 patients that day, while some dealt with less than 10.

One of the root causes is the fact that pediatrics is rarely offered as a major at medical schools, said Deng Kaishu, president of the Beijing Medical Professionals' Association.

"There are only five or six colleges with such a major nationwide. Just 5,000 specialists have been trained in the last 15 years."

Treating children is harder than with adults, he said, adding: "They're more sensitive and can't express their feelings as well, so it takes strong communication skills."

Poor salaries and extreme stress levels are among the chief reasons many medics are put off pediatrics, with some specialists even switching fields to escape.

"Most children suffer from common illnesses, which doesn't cost a lot to treat. Surgery is not often done in pediatrics," said Lu Peng, former director of Beijing Health Bureau's medical administration, who added that at some hospitals wages for pediatricians are less than half that of surgeons.

"Pediatricians always feel they are taking on greater responsibilities because most families now have only one child, meaning they are their parents' precious pearls," he added.

Beijing will build up to two new children's hospitals in the next five years, according to a draft of the capital's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). However, the move is unlikely to solve the fact that most parents insist on taking their children to Beijing Children's Hospital or the Capital Institute of Pediatrics.

"I'd rather use the two famous ones because I believe doctors' experience is crucial," said Wang Hong, a Beijing mother with a 3-month-old son. "It decides whether my child will get better soon or get even worse."

Doctor Wang Tianyou at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Chaoyang district said many parents think the same way, which puts pressure on medics at the children's hospitals.

"Pediatrics at other hospitals have been given the cold shoulder by parents, forcing some hospitals to close their units," he said, before suggesting that more general practitioners should be trained to fill the gap.

Statistics from the Chinese Doctors' Association show there were 61,700 pediatricians nationwide in 2008, making up less than 2 percent of all qualified doctors. In contrast, there are more than 237 million children aged under 14.