Life on Call: Why Chinese Anesthesiologists Are Burning Out

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Chinese anesthesiologists face a triple threat of high technical demands, high risks, and high workloads while remaining undervalued in the health care system. Note: China’s public hospitals are classified into three tiers, with tier 3 being the highest level. Each tier is further divided into three grades — A, B, and C — by regional health authorities. The higher the tier and grade, the more advanced and better-equipped the hospital. In recent years, a series of sudden deaths among anesthesiologists has drawn attention to the profession’s challenges in China. It started with Jiang Jinjian, a 30-year-old anesthesiologist at Shanghai’s Ruijin Hospital who died of cardiac arrest in November 2019. Four months later, 29-year-old Dong Tian, another anesthesiologist in the central Hubei province, died of a stroke. Their demise was followed by two more anesthesiologists — Pan Chuanlong, 34, dying while on duty in the southern Guangdong province in April 2022, and Zhu Xiang, 46, ………………………………