In 2023, a highly anticipated medical drama will be released in China, and its name is "The Extraordinary Doctor". The play is directed by our old friend Lu Chuan, and the cast is also quite familiar, including Zhang Wanyi, Jiang Peiyao, etc.
Although the plot is attractive, I noticed a detail, that is, the doctors in the play seem to live a relatively poor life, even if they are mixed with the deputy chief physician, the living conditions are not ideal.
It turns out that doctors' incomes are not as high as we think, and although they are iron jobs within the system, their income does not seem to match their social status.
For example, even the doctors in the township health centers are also sub-department level career editors, but their income does not seem to meet our expectations. So, why is this happening?
There is also a serious polarization in the hospital industry. The income of doctors in large hospitals is extremely high, with an annual salary of hundreds of thousands, while the income of doctors in ordinary hospitals is insignificant and can only be described as "half a catty and eight cents".
This is because many county-level hospitals are mainly dependent on financial support. Therefore, it is not surprising that Mei Xiaoge faced a situation in the county party committee compound next door where a retired doctor petitioned for a salary.
Although hospitals are regarded as public institutions by us, they are actually different from traditional iron rice bowl public institutions. This is because the hospital is a differential institution, that is to say, although the hospital is indeed a public institution, it is not a fully funded institution, but a public institution with a differential allocation.
The nature of this gap grant presents some unique operational challenges for hospitals.
The operation of medical institutions is often inseparable from financial allocation and market-oriented operation. Taking hospitals as an example, the relationship between hospitals and finance in many places is "three or seven open", that is, the financial allocation accounts for 30 percent, and the remaining 70 percent needs to be obtained by the hospital itself through market-oriented operation.
However, this approach often leads to financial difficulties for hospitals. Especially for some hospitals with a small number of patients, such as the Second Affiliated Hospital depicted in the play, it is often difficult for its staff to get high salaries due to limited income.
Within hospitals, there are differences between departments, and the income levels of ophthalmology and surgery are in the spotlight. In the play, surgery is considered to be a pretty good department in the hospital, and if you work in pediatrics, the income is even more considerable.
Despite this, doctors are still regarded as the leaders of modern society, and their incomes are stable and they do not have to worry about financial problems, so the profession of doctors is known as the "iron rice bowl".