Doctor gives up comfortable life to serve seniors in village

Li Qinru shows the medical kit and medical records as well as the shoes that are completely worn out. [Photo/CCTV]

A patient named Deng Xiang told a Xinhua reporter that "whether it is chopping firewood or buying salt and meat, we ask doctor Li for help. He is better than our sons."

By the end of 2010, China had 1.2 million rural doctors like Li Qinru. On average, two doctors serve for an administrative village. Some of them work in remote and underdeveloped areas where residents find it hard to see a doctor in larger hospitals in towns. For them, rural doctors like Li Qinru are the only resort.

Since he became a doctor at 17, Li has worn out more than 200 pair of shoes and covered more than 100,000 kilometers on the trips to his patients' homes.

Walking mountainous road for years has left Li with severe rheumatic arthritis. It tortures him when it gets cold.

His wife complains about Li's job often.

"I told him to quit the job, but he never listens to me," said Peng Xiaomei, his wife. She said many fellow rural doctors have left home and made decent income in towns. Li is the only one who has stayed behind.

For each home visit, Li charges 8 yuan. Sometime, he simply provides free services when the patients cannot afford the treatment.

Li said it is not realistic for the old people to go more than 10 km to hospitals in towns. As a doctor, he cannot abandon them.

But he is worried about the future of his patients.

"My health is getting worse and worse. I have been looking for my successor for years. But I haven't found one," said Li.

To solve the problem, Ji'an city, which administers Qiqin township, has launched a program to cultivate rural doctors with preferential policies of "zero tuition plus 300 yuan in subsidy" for students. However, no one from Qiqin township applied for it.

Li Qinru is looking to other solutions.

"Zaoshi is a high-land village with rich tourism resources such as distinctive folklore culture, delicacies, rare stones and azalea blossoms," said Li. If the tourism develops well, villagers can make a better life, which may help solve the problem.