August 19, 2023 marked the sixth Chinese Doctors’ Day. This year’s celebration was themed “Shouldering the Health Mission and Making New Contribution”. In the new era of practicing the tenet “Centennial PUMCH, All for the People”, PUMCH held series of activities to provide heart-warming services for the people. August 19 was packed with activities such as the free consultations involving more than 100 physicians, health science popularization lectures, and the open day event “Learn about the Centennial PUMCH”. The day was celebrated in a way that echoed what motivated doctors to practice medicine in the first place. It was special and characteristic of the medical profession. In addition, a wide range of activities were designed, such as visits to PUMCH retirees and to frontline physicians, “First Lesson of Onboarding”, “Bulletin Board of Letters of Gratitude from Patients” and “Bulletin Board of Letters of Affection”. They all fostered a strong atmosphere to respect the medical profession and understand, respect and care for the medical professionals.

Free Consultations by more than a Hundred Physicians Addressed Patients’ Concerns and Questions

“Upon seeing PUMCH’s announcement, we immediately signed up and made an appointment. Luckily, we were quick enough. It was snatched up in seconds!” On the morning of August 19, more than one thousand such lucky patients and their family members arrived at the free consultation spots at the Dongdan Campus and Xidan Campus of PUMCH and waited for their turn in an orderly manner under the guidance of volunteers.

▲Free consultations at the Dongdan Campus

▲Free consultations at the Xidan Campus

Designed to focus on common and frequently occurring diseases, this round of free consultation selected 31 departments in the categories of medicine, nursing, medical technology and pharmacy. The specialists reviewed medical records, dwelled upon the causes of diseases, patiently addressed patients’ concerns and questions, offered targeted suggestions for patients to seek further medical care, and educated patients accordingly. Each of them brought into full play their strengths to best serve the patients.

▲The free consultations

Bring Hope to Patients with Rare Diseases

Within the Joint Clinic for Rare Diseases on the first floor of the Translational Medicine Complex, several children were waiting for their appointment with their parents for the same reason, the Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). PWS is a rare disease with an incidence of approximately 1 in 30,000 with such common manifestations as muscle hypotonia, insatiable appetite, obesity, and involvement of multiple systems and thus calls for multidisciplinary and comprehensive assessment and intervention. Therefore, specialists from the Department of Pediatrics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Dentistry, Clinical Nutrition, and Orthopedics Surgery joined forces to provide free consultations for 23 patients, sparing them and their families from tiresome trips to individual departments.

▲Free consultations at the Joint Clinic for Rare Diseases

▲The MDT for Rare Diseases was discussing a case

“This 50-odd patient experienced four myocardial infarctions within two years, and the question we should ask is ‘why’”, said Zhang Shuyang, a cardiologist and the President of PUMCH, amid a consultation of the MDT for rare diseases involving over 10 departments at 10:30 in the morning. After the Department of Cardiology presented the case, specialists from other departments took turns to speak and provide suggestions for the next steps of diagnosis and treatment. Offering a wide array of services from differential diagnosis, treatment strategies, rehabilitation recommendations to comprehensive care for patients’ physical and mental well-being for individual cases and even the type of diseases concerned, the MDT for Rare Diseases stands as a beacon of hope to many patients.

Stellar Teams to Popularize Science and Improve Health Literacy

On this year’s Chinese Doctors’ Day, PUMCH specialists teamed up to educate people about health in online and offline sessions.

On August 19, PUMCH and CCTV (China Central Television), the state broadcaster, worked together to air 19 lectures given by PUMCH department heads and prominent speclists, which totaled nearly 300 minutes in length. This was really a “feast for science popularization” and it was watched by nearly 400,000 people in real time.

In addition to the online lectures, in multiple teaching and demonstration rooms in the outpatient building, 7 interesting and captivating lectures of science popularization unfolded to packed audiences. Children that signed up for “Pretend Play Dentist” put on white coats and had a lot of fun playing the role of “dentist”, a process that enabled them to learn a great deal about oral and dental health and care.

▲Offline lectures of science popularization going on animatedly

Learning about the Centennial PUMCH and the Great Compassion of Medical Professionals

For the first time, PUMCH held an open day event “Learn about the Centennial PUMCH”. Up to one hundred friends, old and new, visited the medical records exhibition, the “Reform and Innovation for Serving the People” exhibition and the hospital history museum, watched a short video of PUMCH introduction. This was an immersive experience for the visitors to appreciate the uniqueness and charm of PUMCH as a great medical institution with a history of more than 100 years.

The week-long series of activities featuring the Chinese Doctors’ Day put on full display the medical profession that evokes pride and admiration in people. The activities reached a much wider audience thanks to the power of media, which include Xinwen Lianbo (News Simulcast), the daily news program of CCTV; the posters in certain metro lines run by “MD Weekly”, a newspaper for China’s physicians; the series of features on science and technology innovation run by Jiankang Zhilu (Road to Health); and Amazing Chinese Physicians, a feature program of the China Health Education Center, among others. They have continuously disseminated the spirit of PUMCH through the touching stories of the medical professionals, topics related to which have accumulatively garnered 15 million views on the Weibo (microblog) platform.

“I will do my best to live up to your trust.” This is the tenet that generations of PUMCH physicians have upheld for more than a century, during which they have always remained close to the people and marched forward steadfastly for the wellbeing of the people.

Written by the Publicity Department

Pictures courtesy of the Publicity Department and various departments (offices) concerned

Translated by Liu Haiyan

Reviewed by Wang Yao