Chuyên khoa bệnh lý

Bottom line: at China's leading Grade 3A hospitals, reading and writing English is not a problem — physicians read international guidelines, publish in English journals and present at congresses from their student years. Speaking is uneven: international departments work in English, general clinics usually need an interpreter.

What matters more than language is qualification: an attending surgeon who operates independently has typically trained 11–14 years and performed well over a thousand operations. At the top 100 hospitals 40–60% of physicians hold a PhD and more than half hold a senior title. Language can be bought as a service — credentials cannot.