Which department has the worst lack of specialist physicians in the hospital?
Which department has the largest social demand?
Which department has the greatest shortage of beds in a general hospital?
All answers to these questions refer to the same department--the rehabilitation department.
According to the statistics, 170 million people have a potential demand for rehabilitation in China, including the elderly, the disabled and the patients with chronic diseases. While the groups with a demand for rehabilitation keep growing, the talents and medical resources are in a shortage. While the medical model gradually shifts from a “disease centered” one to a “health centered” one, how can we fix the “weakness” of rehabilitation department for the whole society?
The donation of Zhejiang University has perhaps pointed the direction for us.
A fund of 1 million Yuan used for construction of rehabilitation specialty
On the afternoon of July 11, in the medical school of Zhejiang University, Luo Jianhong, Vice President of Zhejiang University, received a cash cheque of 1 million Yuan from the hands of Liu Jiamin, President of Shanghai Donghua Hospital Management Co., Ltd., which was used to establish a “Zhejiang University-Donghua Rehabilitation Foundation” and support the researches of rehabilitation discipline and cultivation of rehabilitation talents in Zhejiang University.
『The No. 1 Hospital Affiliated to the Medical School of Zhejiang University is the hosting unit of “Zhejiang University-Donghua Rehabilitation Foundation”. Wang Weilin, President of the hospital said, at present the hospital’s rehabilitation discipline is the clinical, teaching and scientific research center of rehabilitation of the whole province and undertakes the rehabilitation tasks of complex diseases of the province. It is a national regular training base for rehabilitation resident doctors.
“We will surely manage the special fund well and promote advanced rehabilitation technologies in the province and the rehabilitation level in the province.” Wang Weilin said. Chen Zuobing, Vice President of the said hospital and director of the rehabilitation center, introduced that rehabilitation treatment is an important link in the management of chronic diseases and can effectively prevent chronic diseases from recurrence and improve the treatment effect.
According to statistics, the disability rate caused by “stroke” in developed countries is around 30%, while in China the disability rate is above 75%. The main reason is that the patients lack rehabilitation treatment.
Among the surviving patients of cerebrovascular accidents, an active rehabilitation treatment can restore the walking and self-care abilities of 90% of the patients, while 30% of the patients can work again. Without a rehabilitation treatment, the proportions of patients recovered from the two chronic diseases mentioned are only 6% and 5%. “The special rehabilitation fund is just like a timely rain to promote us to constantly perfect the construction of rehabilitation specialty, cultivate rehabilitation talents and make some achievements in the field.” Chen Zuobing said.
The talent gap for rehabilitation discipline is huge
What is rehabilitation medicine?
It is an applied medical discipline studying the rehabilitation of disabled persons and patients, with an aim to make the patients and disabled persons recovered to the largest extent as soon as possible by means of physical therapy, sports therapy, life training, skill training, verbal training and psychological counseling.
In 2011, the Ministry of Health (now “National Health and Family Planning Commission”) issued a circular on the Guide to Construction and Management of Rehabilitation Discipline in General Hospitals, which required that all general hospitals above Class II must build a rehabilitation discipline.
However, by the end of 2014, there were 3,288 general hospitals actually with a rehabilitation department. China had 8,973 hospitals above Class II (including 2,002 Class III hospitals, 6,971 Class II hospitals). Compared with the requirement, only less than half of the Class II hospitals had established a rehabilitation department.
The gap of rehabilitation doctors is also very huge. Referring to the international average level, now China needs 114,700 rehabilitation doctors. But there are only 39,833 rehabilitation professional technicians nationwide, so the gap is as high as 100,900 persons.
Take the No. 1 Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University as an example. Though its rehabilitation discipline is ranked top nationwide, now it only has 30 rehabilitation beds, and is staffed by 13 rehabilitation doctors, 20 treating physicians and 30 nurses. In the ratio of beds, it is near 4 to 5 times lower than the standard of 5% proposed by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the number of rehabilitation doctors is relatively insufficient. These are the common problems faced by many hospitals in Zhejiang.
“Generally, it takes at least 4 years to cultivate a batch of professional rehabilitation talents. The solution for the shortage of talents can be made up by measures such as transfer of clinicians. The qualification requirement for rehabilitation practitioners is to pass the regular assessment of rehabilitation organized by Chinese Medical Doctor Association. Therefore, it is a very wise and urgent decision for the foundation to take the cultivation of rehabilitation talents as its point of entry.” Chen Zuobing said.
A rehabilitation department is expected to be opened in the medical school of Zhejiang University
Rehabilitation medicine not only studies pathogeny and clinical treatment, but also emphasizes the recovery of the functional state to live independently, return to family and the society.
The medical school of Zhejiang University keeps making attempts in the field of rehabilitation. In discipline construction, at present it has set up a research center on combination of medical treatment and endowment of Zhejiang University, which is engaged in theoretical researches to provide reference for governmental decision-making; the rehabilitation research office of Zhejiang University has also been launched for the cultivation of talents.
Chen Zuobing has another identity, namely, Chairman of the Expert Committee of the research center on combination of medical treatment and endowment of Zhejiang University. At the primary level of conventional rehabilitation, he has taken the initiative to raise the concept of “early rehabilitation, general rehabilitation” and propose that rehabilitation should intervene with the whole process of operation of a patient.
Later, in the contacts with senior management of Donghua Hospital, he raised his own rehabilitation concept and dream and moved the top executives of the group, which resulted in the said donation.
“In the near future, we hope to drive Zhejiang University to establish a rehabilitation department in the medical school with the strength of the society, or lay down a foundation for the establishment of a Rehabilitation Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University.” Chen Zuobing said.
