【明報專訊】A SEX SCANDAL involving a male doctor at one of the ''top ten'' hospitals in Beijing has provoked public concern and even alerted the National Health Commission to launch a medical administration probe at the highest level. Many questions arising from the scandal call for close examinations, including the hospital's failure to immediately pursue the doctor over his unauthorised walking out from a surgical operation, whether his extramarital partner's incredible fast track in obtaining a medical licence was due to prerogative, and whether the programme that had allowed her to cross disciplines and become a medical practitioner was too lax in talent screening. The controversy has dug deep into questions surrounding the demerits of the medical system, people's anxiety about class solidification and the lack of mutual trust between doctors and patients.
The storm was started by a letter sent by a named whistle-blower accusing her husband, an associate chief of surgery at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, of having extramarital affairs with multiple colleagues. One of the women, a resident doctor under training, was particularly under the spotlight. She was among the first graduates of the ''4+4'' pilot medical training programme at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), a prestigious institution in Beijing.
Traditional medical education on the mainland is a ''5+3'' system that combines undergraduate to master's programmes. A further professional training of three to five years is required for a doctoral degree in medicine. In comparison, the ''4+4'' model allows non-medical graduates to study for a doctoral degree in medicine in only four years.
The idea was in fact borrowed from US practice, with the primary purpose of nurturing interdisciplinary medical talent with diverse educational backgrounds. However, the sex scandal has led the public to cast doubt over the actual quality of the programme. As pointed out by experts in the field, the ''4+4'' model in the US embodies the process of very strict screening. By rights, the talent training programme at PUMC should also have followed a rigorous procedure. But there is no lack of dubious points in the CV of the female doctor under concern.
She majored in economics as an undergraduate in the US. Under the medical programme, she was apprenticed to an orthopaedic professor, but her major was internal medicine. Her doctoral thesis was about research on gynecologic imaging. Upon graduation, she became a practitioner in urological surgery. Although still under standardised training, she already became the first author of a clinical practice manual on cancer. In her doctoral thesis, an extraordinarily short one, there were multiple coincidences with an invention undergoing patent application.
The accumulation of these unusual factors has aroused public concern about whether the ''4+4'' model in China has been implemented with lower standards and lax gatekeeping. Hearsay about the family background of the female doctor, such as her being from a privileged class, has also spread like wildfire on the internet.
In fact, doubt about the ''atypical'' career development of certain individuals or groups is common across many sectors, reflecting the deep concern of the ordinary people about resource distribution within society, class solidification and other problems. As the medical sector is directly related to life and healthcare, the fairness of resource distribution and the operation of the medical system has long been the focus of concern for society. The National Health Commission should comprehensively examine and systematically reform the deep-seated problems in the healthcare system, including strengthening fairness and transparency in medical education and talent selection.
明報社評 2025.05.05：桃色風波掀巨浪 「健康中國」誰護航
北京「十佳」醫院之一近日爆出男醫生桃色風波，引起輿論關注，更驚動國家衛健委啟動最高層級的醫政調查。事件多個疑點，諸如男醫生曾擅離手術枱而院方似乎未即時跟進、其出軌對象是否靠特權而神速取得行醫資格，以至造就她跨科從醫的選才模式是否把關不嚴等，有待一一查清，當中涉及針對醫療體系弊端、階層固化焦慮，以及醫患互信缺失的深層拷問。
這場風波由一封實名舉報信引發。舉報者指控其在中日友好醫院擔任外科副主任的丈夫，與多名同事發生婚外情，當中最受關注是一名正接受培訓的女住院醫生，她是北京知名學府協和醫學院首屆「4+4」培育模式改革試點班畢業生。
內地傳統的醫學生培養體系有「5+3」一體化「本(科)碩(士)連讀」，若要取得醫學博士學位，需要再接受3至5年專業培訓。相比之下，「4＋4」模式讓非醫學本科者進修4年醫學教育就獲得博士學位。
它其實借鑑了美國做法，初衷是培養具有多元學科背景的複合型醫學人才，桃色風波卻令公眾懷疑該項目含金量。有業內專家指出，美國的「4+4」模式伴隨極嚴格的篩選。按常理推斷，協和醫學院選才培訓應該也會遵循嚴格程序，但涉事女醫生的履歷，卻不乏令外界困惑之處。
她的本科在美國學經濟，讀醫時師從骨科院士卻專修內科，博士論文研究婦科影像學，學成後在泌尿外科工作。雖然仍在接受規範化培訓，但她已是一項癌症臨牀實踐指南的第一作者，其博士論文篇幅異常簡短，又與一項正在申請的發明專利多處雷同。
這一系列不尋常因素疊加，引起輿論關注「4＋4」模式在中國實踐過程中是否存在標準降低、把關不嚴的問題。網絡上還迅速流傳關於該名女醫生家庭背景的傳聞，「特權階層」等說法不脛而走。
事實上，針對特定個體或群體「超常規」事業發展的質疑遍及不同領域，體現了普羅大眾對社會資源分配格局與階級固化等問題的深層關切。醫療領域與生命健康直接相關，其資源分配的公平性與體制運作的公正性，更是長期成為社會關注焦點。國家衛健委應全面審視和系統性改革醫療體系存在的深層次問題，包括強化醫療教育和人才選拔的公平性與透明度。
■/ Glossary 生字 /
prerogative：a right or advantage belonging to a particular person or group because of their importance or social position
by rights：if things were fair
apprentice：to make sb an apprentice (who works for an employer for a fixed period of time in order to learn the particular skills needed in their job)