Objective To compare the number of equivalent physicians and enrollment scale of medical education in China and the United States and provide policy recommendations for regulating enrollment scale of medical education and building physician workforce in China. Methods Descriptive analysis was used to compare the absolute and relative quantities of relevant indicators. Results In 2022 or the latest data year, the total number of physicians in China and the United States were 2.57 million and 989 thousand, respectively. China had 221 medical schools with a total enrollment of 143 thousand students; There were 204 medical schools in the United States, with a total enrollment of 32 thousand students. The average enrollment of Chinese medical schools was 645, while in the United States it was 158. The number of physicians per thousand population in China and the United States was respectively 1.8 and 3.0, and the number of medical schools per ten million population was respectively 1.6 and 6.1. Conclusions Compared with the United States, China has a relatively low number of physicians and medical schools, and the average enrollment scale of medical schools is too large. It is necessary to steadily increase the number of medical schools and compress the average enrollment scale of medical schools.
Hou Jianlin
,
Fang Chenchen
,
Huang Yujie
,
Xie Ana
,
Wang Weimin
. Comparative study on the number of physicians and enrollment scale of medical education between China and the United States[J]. Chinese Journal of Medical Education, 2026
, 46(2)
: 146
-150
.
DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.cn115259-20250110-00028
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