The only one in the country! The TSW medical student wins the Lancet's 2021 "Wickley-Woollend Award"

Peninsula all-media reporter Sun Yaqin

Recently, the international top medical journal "Lancet" published an article by Dong Jiaxin, a 2017 undergraduate student majoring in clinical medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Qingdao University, on Chinese village doctors, which won the "Wickery-Woollend Award" in 2021. It is reported that the establishment of this award is to allow the world to listen to the voice of contemporary Chinese doctors and build a bridge for the dialogue between China and the world in medicine. There is only 1 winner per year.

Dong Jiaxin (second from right) conducts experiments with classmates

The Wickley-Woollend Award is an annual essay contest held by The Lancet that encourages Chinese health workers to share their medical stories. The theme of the Lancet 2021 "Wickley-Woollend Award" is: The Story of "Secret" in Medical Work, and Dong Jiaxin, a 2017 clinical medical undergraduate student at the Faculty of Medicine of Qingdao University, is the only winner in the country in 2021.

Dong Jiaxin's winning work of this competition is titled "The Village Sunk Underground", which tells the story of his grandfather's past as a village doctor, which can make readers feel the responsibility and inheritance of doctors from "small things", and reflect the contributions made by generations of village doctors to the cause of public health. Dong Jiaxin said that he wanted to use this article to thank his grandfather, and the millions of Chinese village doctors like his grandfather, for their great contributions. These village doctors conscientiously implemented the national health work policy of "focusing on the countryside, focusing on prevention, and attaching equal importance to traditional Chinese and Western medicine" in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and under the scientific guidance of public health and medical experts at all levels, they eliminated a variety of infectious diseases, greatly improved the grass-roots medical environment, and raised the average life expectancy of Chinese from 35 years in 1949 to 68 years old at the beginning of reform and opening up in 1978.

In the article, Dong Jiaxin vividly depicted the primary care services provided by barefoot doctors by recalling the intimate and warm doctor-patient relationship in his childhood in his grandfather's small clinic, the jury said. Dong Jiaxin was chosen as the recipient of the 2021 Wickley-Woollend Award in the hope that by reviewing the history of barefoot doctors and their tremendous contributions to improving the health of generations in China, more people will be aware of the important role of primary health care in improving universal health coverage and health equity. The Chinese government has prioritized disease prevention and primary healthcare revitalization in the Healthy China 2030 programme, and the primary health care system has also made a significant contribution to the control of covid-19. Primary medical practitioners such as rural doctors will never lose their value, but will play a more important role in improving the health of the population.

"At that time, I participated in the competition, and the purpose of writing this article was to hope that my grandfather's story would be heard by more people. This award allows more people to start to understand China's rural doctors, which is the biggest significance of the award for me. Dong Jiaxin told reporters that the first time he received the award email, he shared this good news with his grandfather. Although Grandpa now has Alzheimer's disease, many things have become unclear. But Grandpa's medical experience has always deeply affected Dong Jiaxin, and he also hopes to be able to help more people in need like Grandpa in the future.

"I have always had a dream of joining Médecins Sans Frontières, going to poor and backward places, and giving the most basic medical and health care to those who suffer." Dong Jiaxin said that although the path of medicine is very bitter, he will continue to walk firmly. He is about to graduate from his fifth year of college and is applying for training as a U.S. resident, hoping to take the opportunity to get one step closer to his dream.