Study on the scale and structure of health professional education in China's colleges and universities from 1998 to 2012

Abstract

Objective To study the scale and structure of health professional education in China's colleges and universities and their changes from 1998 to 2012. Method Descriptive analyses of national data were conducted, mainly including calculation of absolute numbers, average rates of change per year, and percentages. Results The number of colleges and universities involved in health professional education increased from 189 in 1998 to 590 in 2012.The number of health professional students who were enrolled by, studied in and graduated from these colleges and universities respectively reached 587 thousand, 2 104 thousand, and 508 thousand in 2012, with annual growth rates of about 15 percent. The proportion of diploma graduates rose from 42.9 percent in 1998 to 54.0 percent in 2012, which was bigger than those of students at other education levels. In 2012, health professional educational institutions per 10 million popu-lation in western China was less than eastern and middle China by 1.1 and 0.9, respectively. Health profes-sional graduates per 10 thousand population in western China was less than eastern and middle China by 3.3 and 1.6, respectively. Public institutions and their students respectively accounted for 78.1 percent and 85.1 percent though private institutions and their students increased more quickly than public ones. Student-faculty ratio rose from 7.1∶1 in 1998 to 20.0∶1 in 2012. Conclusion The scale of health profes-sional education has been expanding at a decreasing growth rate in China. The disciplinary composition of health professional students has some-what improved and private schools increased at a quicker rate than public ones. However, the gap in scale of education between western China and middle/eastern China has been widening. Education resources per student cannot keep pace with the expansion of students, which has affected education of health professionals in many aspects. Key words: Education of health professionals; Scale of education; Structure of education