Rao Yi, biologist, former president of Capital Medical University: The 4+4 pilot program is just a training system. It is not inherently linked to plagiarism or malpractice. What we need to do is eliminate nepotism in its implementation. This program suits PUMCH and many other medical schools. Source: WeChat Official Account
Wang Chen, president of PUMCH: The 4+4 program targets students who have completed undergraduate studies in other disciplines and made a mature, deliberate choice to switch to medicine. They are typically more committed when entering the medical field. Source: Official Website of PUMCH
Tu Yuliang, associate chief physician of HPB surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital: The program has a well-meaning design. However, clinical medicine is based on experience. It’s highly unlikely that the 4+4 track can produce doctors with both strong medical knowledge and deep clinical experience in such a short time. Source: Xinhua.net
A high-profile love affair between a surgeon and an intern at a prestigious Beijing hospital has social media sick over perceived nepotism and privilege in China’s medical system.
The scandal broke when the wife of Dr. Xiao Fei, 39, a thoracic surgeon at Beijing’s China-Japan Friendship Hospital, made allegations to hospital authorities that he had conducted numerous affairs with colleagues, including 29-year-old intern Dong Xiying.
In a letter to the hospital which surfaced online on April 18, Xiao’s wife also accused him of malpractice – leaving a patient anesthetized on the operating table for 40 minutes while he left to comfort Dong.
Xiao was immediately dismissed, and then public attention shifted from the affair to Dong’s background and the “4+4” accelerated-degree pilot program. Run by Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), it fast-tracks selected non-medical bachelor’s degree holders onto a four-year path into medicine, as opposed to the traditional eight years of medical training.
Netizens discovered that Dong comes from an influential family that helped her get into the program. Before turning to medicine, Dong studied economics at Barnard College in New York City. She then joined PUMCH’s 4+4 program and earned a medical degree in 2023.
Starting in September 2023, Dong did a yearlong internship at China-Japan Friendship Hospital, where she had an affair with Xiao. She was interning at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences when the scandal broke.
Following an investigation, the National Health Commission confirmed on May 15 that Dong’s admission to the 4+4 program was fraudulent, as Barnard College does not meet the requirement of being a top 50 global university.
They also verified accusations by netizens that Dong had committed academic misconduct, including plagiarism. Her academic degrees and medical qualifications were revoked.
Many netizens argue that the 4+4 program fosters academic corruption and favors those with privileged backgrounds, allowing them to bypass years of training and land top hospital positions. Others, including some experts, defended it as a valid way to recruit exceptional interdisciplinary talent.
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