Doctor's salary up to 1.36 billion VND/year still arguing about income improvement

In China, the healthcare sector is considered the foundation for the country's development. Hospitals in the country of a billion people include three types: general hospitals, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals, and specialized hospitals.

The largest number are public hospitals and are run by the government. Regular government subsidies are mainly used to pay the basic salaries of medical staff while private hospitals pay their own staff based on contracts. Doctors' salaries in public hospitals in China are divided into three parts: basic salary, benefits and bonuses.

The Chinese government is actively reforming medical salaries so that more than 4 million doctors can enjoy more worthy benefits. (Illustration photo)

In the traditional Chinese social conception, being a doctor means “high salary” and “prestige”, but medical staff all share that their income is low and are calling for reforms to improve their material life.

Doctors' salaries are affected by factors ranging from geographic location to expertise and years of experience. For example, Lian Xie Bao, head of the infectious disease department at Sanming City No. 1 Hospital in Fujian Province, China, told China Business News that in 2012, his annual income was more than 80,000 yuan (about 273 million VND), but by 2020, it had reached about 400,000 yuan (about 1.36 billion VND).

Supply-demand dynamics, cost of living, and healthcare infrastructure in regions contribute to physician salaries.

Doctors practicing in first-tier urban centers such as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou often demand higher salaries than doctors in other areas. According to statistics, the average salary of Beijing hospitals is 10,917 yuan/month (about 37.3 million VND). The average year-end bonus of hospitals in the capital is 31,727 yuan (about 107 million VND).

Data from the 2022 China Hospital Human Resources Survey Report shows that the average medical income of doctors is 94,000 yuan/year (about 321 million VND), and 70% of doctors said their pre-tax medical income is less than 100,000 yuan/year (about 342 million VND).

Previously, in 2018, two scholars from Peking Union Medical College published the income levels of doctors in China in the medical journal BMC Health Services Research. This is The survey results were from 136 hospitals across 31 Chinese provinces, with the participation of more than 17,600 doctors.

Accordingly, the average annual salary of Chinese doctors was 13,764 USD (about 339 million VND) in 2015. Doctors in Eastern China earned more than those in Central and Western China. The salary of male doctors in 2015 was 14,832 USD (about 365 million VND), higher than the salary of female colleagues at 12,912 USD (about 318 million VND).

Of the respondents, 76.3% worked more than 40 hours per week. On average, physicians treated 40 patients per day. Therefore, 67.2% of physicians spent no more than 10 minutes with each outpatient. After adjusting for age and management position, salaries were tied to years of service, education, and specialty, but not to weekly hours worked or gender.

The Chinese government is actively reforming medical salaries so that more than 4 million doctors can enjoy decent benefits, which can improve service quality and patient satisfaction, according to Times Finance.

In 2017, China launched a pilot program for salary reform in public hospitals. In August 2021, with the approval of the State Council, five agencies jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Salary System in Public Hospitals" and implemented the reform at the national level.

The government of Sanming City, Fujian Province, for the first time implemented an annual salary system for medical staff with specific salary standards as follows: Chief physician: 300,000 yuan (about 1 billion VND); treating physician: 200,000 yuan (about 684 million VND); resident physician: 150,000 yuan (513 billion VND); technician/pharmacist: 80% of professional titles at the same level; nurse: 70% of professional titles at the same level; administrative staff: 40% of professional titles at the same level.

More specifically, if a person is a technician or pharmacist in Tam Minh and has a certain professional title, his or her salary will be 80% of the salary of a person with a similar title but in a higher position.

Suppose there are two technicians, both with different titles but the same level of expertise and responsibility. If one technician earns 100,000 RMB per year, the other technician with a lower title will earn 80,000 RMB/year, which is 80% of the higher salary.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

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