Development of undergraduate family medicine teaching in China.

INTRODUCTION China is the most highly-populated country in the world with increasing demand for health care. Family medicine can improve health care in China, and can supply good health outcomes, equitably and economically. Family medicine education in China currently exists in three models — resident training, on-the-job training, and undergraduate teaching — but only undergraduate teaching may provide more competent family physicians in China. A general description of undergraduate family medicine teaching in the last two decades is lacking and to determine the situation in China we sent a questionnaire to every Chinese medical school enquiring about family medicine teaching and analysed the results. Family medicine teaching has undergone several milestones in China. In 1992, the undergraduate family medicine teaching programme was initiated in the Capital Medical University in Beijing. In November 1993, family medicine was recognised as a new academic discipline by the Chinese Medical Association. The Chinese Society of General Practice was founded in 1995. In 1999, ‘Directives on Chinese family medicine education’ was issued by the Ministry of Health. In 2006, the Chinese government adopted new strategies for the development of family medicine teaching and community health service. Over the last two decades, the number of medical schools with family medicine teaching has significantly increased. Whether the quantity was compatible and well distributed was not known. We decided to investigate the number, growth, and variation of family medicine teaching across Chinese medical schools. Also, most importantly, we investigated whether there was any difference between the ‘advanced’ and ‘wealthy’ regions of China, and the poorer hinterland. In developed countries such as the UK, a family medicine teaching curriculum has been well supported in undergraduate training. But how well has it been supported in China?