ArticleBMC health services research2018
The salary of physicians in Chinese public tertiary hospitals: a national cross-sectional and follow-up study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Influencing the Implementation of Foreign Innovations in Organization and Management of Health Service Delivery in China: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in health services · 2021Pooled it
- Factors Influencing Physicians' Perceived Compensation Satisfaction in China: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Heterogeneity in job preferences among young physicians in Chinese tertiary hospitals: a discrete choice experiment.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Extended working hours, income, and multidimensional wellbeing among physicians in China: a cross-sectional mediation analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Physician agency in China: evidence from physicians' responses to financial pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic.Health economics review · 2025Article
- Implementing the Chinese mandatory antimicrobial stewardship program: barriers to continuous improvement.Health policy and planning · 2025Article
- Gender-based differences in associated factors of perceived salary satisfaction among physicians: a cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Analysis of the factors influencing the salary level and satisfaction of medical staff in hospitals in less developed areas of Western China based on machine learning algorithms: evidence from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Did the reform of the public hospitals' pay system increase the physicians' pay in China? A cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- The combined effect of perception of pay fairness and institutional transparency on physicians' work enthusiasm: a mixed method study from China.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Income gap between male and female psychiatric nurses in China: A national survey.International nursing review · 2024Article
- Gender income differences among general practitioners with compulsory services in early career stage in underdeveloped areas: evidence from a prospective cohort study in China.Human resources for health · 2024Article
- Dynamic distribution, regional differences and convergence of health workforce allocation in township health centers in China.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Healthcare providers' perceptions and experiences of kangaroo mother care for preterm infants in four neonatal intensive care units in China: a qualitative descriptive study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The effect of internal salary incentives based on insurance payment on physicians' behavior: experimental evidence.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Would you choose to be a psychiatrist again? A large-sample nationwide survey of psychiatrists and psychiatry residents in China.International journal of mental health systems · 2023Article
- Attitudes toward ophthalmology as a prospective career among pre-clinical medical students in China.BMC medical education · 2023Article
- Work-family conflict and its related factors among emergency department physicians in China: A national cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSalary is perceived as a key factor affecting job satisfaction, employment, and the retention or migration of physicians within and across countries. This study aimed to describe physicians' salary and workload and to examine the factors determining the salary of physicians in China.
methodsWe conducted a self-administered, smartphone-based national survey in 136 tertiary hospitals across 31 provinces. A total of 17,615 physicians self-reported their salaries after tax and their characteristics, practice settings, and work efforts in 2015. Then, 2498 of the physicians were followed up for the second-round survey in 2016. Univariate analysis and general estimate equations were applied to evaluate the factors associated with salary.
resultIn 2015, the average annual salary of the physicians was US$13,764. Physicians in eastern China earned more than those in central (p < 0.001) and western China (p = 0.002) after adjustment for locality expenditure per capita. The salary for men in 2015 was US$14,832, which was more than that for women (US$12,912; p < 0.001). Of the respondents, 76.3% worked more than 40 h per week. The physicians dealt with 40 patients per day on average. Consequently, 67.2% physicians spent no more than 10 min with each outpatient. After adjustments for age and management position, salary was associated with years in practice, education background, and specialty, but not with weekly work hours and gender.
conclusionsThe physicians' salaries were relatively low, and the majority of the respondents worked more than 40 h per week. Years in practice, education background, specialty, and region were associated with salary, while weekly work hours and gender were not. To better remunerate Chinese physicians, more resources are demanded, and a workload-based salary scheme should be adopted.
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