When her studies ended in 1999, most of her classmates pursued a medical career in the big city, but she went back home and became the only doctor in the village.

Starting from scratch, Pan had to spend hundreds of yuan to rent and renovate a village house and converted it into a health center with two beds for patients. Before opening, a man came to Pan asking her to help his wife, Yang Datuan, who was having trouble during childbirth.

She clearly remembers the date-Feb 24, 1999. When she entered Yang's home, it was a horrible scene-some of Yang's family members were lifting a stone quern, used for grinding corn, to put it on Yang's belly.

"It was the first time I helped a woman give birth and the situation frightened me. I immediately shouted at them to stop," Pan recalls.

It took her nearly an hour to ensure that both Yang and her baby were healthy and safe. The experience reinforced her decision to become a rural doctor.

"In remote villages, every delivery can be risky, because most pregnant women don't want to go to the hospital and they don't come to me until the last moment," the doctor sighs. In the past 23 years, Pan has helped more than 1,200 women safely deliver healthy babies.

Besides the pregnant women, Pan has paid special attention to the health of the "empty-nest" seniors, who live by themselves.

With her husband passing away and her son diagnosed with night blindness, 58-year-old Yang Zhongfen had mobility problems after a brain infarction or obstruction. Pan took Yang for acupuncture twice a week free of charge for two months until she got better.

She helps set up medical records for villagers and pays regular visits to people at their home, taking time to talk with them.

Challenges ahead

According to her observations, most rural doctors in Guizhou face serious challenges, such as heavy workload, aging issues and low salaries.

Pan knows her own contribution is limited and calls on more people to raise awareness about rural healthcare. The good news is that starting this year, rural doctors in Guizhou got an additional subsidy of 200 yuan ($29.2) every month from the local government.

"The policy is an encouragement for rural doctors facing a harsh natural and working environment, but there is still a lot to improve in the rural healthcare field," Pan says.

On the national level, China has enrolled 70,000 medical students to serve the population in rural areas and 35,000 of them have already practiced in the countryside, according to the National Health Commission.

In February, the State Council, China's Cabinet, launched a guideline focusing on the modernization and vitalization of rural areas for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). Improving rural healthcare is one area emphasized in the policy.

It says that doctors earning degrees from vocational colleges will be encouraged to work in rural areas, while some large hospitals will be required to help improve the services of rural clinics by sending doctors there or organizing diagnostic tours to such areas.

Nationwide, the country is expected to have 16 million medical workers by 2025, according to the commission. The number was close to 14 million last year.

For Pan, besides the duty of a physician, being a rural doctor has its rewards-being part of the local community and staying connected with patients, who are more like her friends.