How to become a Village Doctor

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 乡村医生

Provides basic medical care and basic public health services for villagers at the village clinic.

Main tasks

• Providing public health services related to residents' health, such as disease prevention and health education
• Giving first diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses and helping patients get referred when needed
• Handling residents' health management and maternal and child health
• Collecting, compiling and reporting disease control, health inspection, maternal and child health and other data
• Helping to deal with public health emergencies
• Working with specialist public health organisations on other services

Ways in

• University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 38 universities in China Related undergraduate subject classes in the Ministry of Education catalogue (2025): Clinical Medicine (1002); Traditional Chinese Medicine (1005); majors such as Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Preservation, Traditional Chinese Medicine Rehabilitation, Clinical Medicine, Anaesthesiology, Medical Imaging, Ophthalmology and Optometry Medicine. Matched to the occupation by Peernovo.
• Vocational majors: Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Kazakh Medicine and Pharmacy (720410). Vocational major 720410 Kazakh Medicine and Pharmacy (哈医医疗与哈药), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Village Doctor; Medical Practitioner; Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Assessment and Application; Home Health Massage.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Mongolian Medicine and Pharmacy (720406). Vocational major 720406 Mongolian Medicine and Pharmacy (蒙医医疗与蒙药), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Village Doctor; Medical Practitioner; Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Assessment and Application; Home Health Massage.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Tibetan Medicine and Pharmacy (720404). Vocational major 720404 Tibetan Medicine and Pharmacy (藏医医疗与藏药), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Village Doctor; Medical Practitioner; Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Assessment and Application; Home Health Massage.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Traditional Chinese Medicine (720401). Vocational major 720401 Traditional Chinese Medicine (中医), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Village Doctor; Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Assessment and Application; Home Health Massage.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Uyghur Medicine and Pharmacy (720405). Vocational major 720405 Uyghur Medicine and Pharmacy (维医医疗与维药), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Village Doctor; Medical Practitioner; Traditional Chinese Medicine Constitution Assessment and Application; Home Health Massage.
• National qualification: Licence to practise: Medical Practitioner Qualification. You need this qualification to work in the job. Listed in the national vocational qualifications catalogue (国家职业资格目录, 2021) as Medical Practitioner Qualification (医生资格), run by National Health Commission. Peernovo links it to this occupation.

Pay · AI and this job

• Median pay in China: CN¥65,600 a year (2025).
• Middle half: CN¥47,400 to CN¥97,300. One in ten earn less than CN¥36,000 and one in ten more than CN¥148,700.
• This is the figure for the mid group Health Professionals, not for this job alone.
• National figure: wage prices of enterprise employees from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) enterprise pay survey. The public sector and the self-employed are not covered.
• Guangzhou only: median CN¥94,703 a year (2025), middle half CN¥60,480 to CN¥141,804.
• This is the figure for the mid group Health Professionals, not for this job alone.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• The census group Health Professionals holds 1.66% of everyone employed in China; 68.7% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
• 50.6% are under 35, 42.5% are 35 to 54 and 6.9% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 30 to 34.
• Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Village Doctor?

Ways in include: Medicine & Dentistry degrees; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Kazakh Medicine and Pharmacy (720410); Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Mongolian Medicine and Pharmacy (720406).

How much does a Village Doctor earn in China?

Across China, the median pay of enterprise employees is CN¥65,600 a year (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS), 2025). The public sector and the self-employed are not covered. It is the figure for the mid group Health Professionals. In Guangzhou alone it is CN¥94,703 a year (2025).

Will AI change the work of a Village Doctor?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS): 2025 enterprise pay survey information: wage prices of enterprise employees by occupation mid group, and digital occupations (P10 to P90 annual CNY) (2025 (published 2026-07-08)), retrieved 5 October 2026
• Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau: Guangzhou 2025 labour market wage prices (P10 to P90 annual CNY by occupation) (2025 (enterprise pay survey)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 5 October 2026