Current Situation Analysis of health manpower in rural township hospitals in Guangdong province and policy suggestions

Objective To make some suggestions for improving rural doctor abilities based on the baseline investigation.Methods Field survey on 486 doctors in 18 sampled township hospitals with a questionnaire containing age,sex,education title of a technical post etc.Results Most of doctors in rural township hospitals only got a very low level of education-3-years program after finishing their middle school,and 62.0% of them only own a primary title.The condition of the doctors in the township hospitals in the Pearl River Delta areas are much better than those in the other places over the province,and clinical doctors' condition is better than the doctors in public health.Conclusion Rural doctors ability in Guangdong township hospitals are low because of their education background and working environment.Doctors in different areas had a great difference and clinical doctors are better than preventive ones.It is necessary to focus on continued medical education to improve the rural doctor's ability and take political and financial policy to reduce the unequal condition happened in the whole province.