Survey regarding difficulties encountered by foreign medical postgraduates in China / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the general information such as study motivation, study de-mand, and encountered difficulties of foreign medical postgraduates in China. Methods 45 medical post-graduates in Chongqing Medical University participated in this survey in February 2014. The questionnaire consisted of 19 questions, including study motivation, the reasons to learn in China, language proficiency, study expectation, satisfaction rate, and future career plan. In total, 45 questionnaires were handed out, and 42 (93%) were recovered. Results All respondents (42 persons) had already acquired medical license in their own countries. 45%of them (19 persons) had obtained bachelor’s degree in other university and were attracted by the reputation of Chongqing Medical University. 50% of respondents (21 persons) considered language barrier as the biggest problem in their learning process. 60%(25 persons) were generally satisfied with their postgraduate education in China. And lack of clinical practice opportunity was ranked as the No. 1 reason of dissatisfaction (54%, 23 persons). Conclusion Language barrier as well as lack of clinical practice opportunity is the biggest two problems encountered by foreign medical postgraduates in China. Although Chongqing Medical University has gained a lot of experience in foreign medical postgraduate education, improvements regarding training program and mentor selection should still be made.