China will accelerate the development of medical education by building more first-class medical schools in colleges and universities and recruiting high-quality medical students.

A guideline issued recently by the General Office of the State Council calls for an overall improvement of the structure of medical education, emphasizing the development of vocational nursing education, clinical medicine education, and professional education on traditional Chinese medicine.

It encourages the recruitment of more undergraduate medical students, and postgraduate students on specialties in short supply such as anesthesiology, infectious diseases, intensive care, and pediatrics, as well as the training of general practitioners.

It also underlines the need to deepen the reform of the training of resident doctors and continuing their medical education.

The guideline calls on local authorities and departments to attach greater importance to medical education and ensure funding for the development of medical education.