Returning to Study After Many Battles — I Have Been Admitted to a Medical School

Early this morning, I opened the "E-Zhaotong" system to check my admission status and found that it had changed from "institutionally pre-admitted" to "admitted," indicating that I have been admitted this year to the institution I applied to in the national college entrance examination. I learned of the pre-admission two days earlier, and through the school's official website I found its contact telephone number, reaching the admissions office and administration to clarify several detailed questions about enrollment.

Just in the past two days, a friend who teaches at a university happened to tell me that students can now do visiting (cross-registered) study: as long as the school that admitted them recognizes the credits of the host institution, they can apply to study at a comparable local institution, complete enough credits, and still receive their graduation diploma from the original school. I had not known about this policy before.

When I learned this from her, my eyes lit up. The school that admitted me is not in Beijing, and I had previously hesitated over whether to go; now I hesitate no longer. I will go to the school to complete enrollment procedures, apply to the school for out-of-town visiting study (the school agreed by phone), and then apply for visiting study at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (which also accepts visiting students). This will perfectly resolve my problem.

This time I was admitted to a junior-college clinical medicine program. I will strive to upgrade from the junior college to the bachelor's level; whichever institution I end up at, I will apply to do visiting study at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. These policies in China's higher education system have greatly facilitated people like me, middle-aged learners. It is genuinely inconvenient for a middle-aged person to leave home to attend a full-time medical college elsewhere, making it hard to balance family and work; the visiting-study policy perfectly solves my dilemma.

In a few days it will be my 45th birthday. At my age, not many people still have the chance to go to college. I am deeply grateful to fate for giving me this opportunity. Truly, it is "returning to study after many battles"; I will cherish this opportunity greatly and spend five to seven years studying hard on campus to improve myself.

My heartfelt thanks go to all the relatives and friends who have given me advice these past days. For years I have hidden in my study, out of touch with the outside world; it was through the inspiration of my relatives and friends that I gathered the information on education policy. This decision, which integrates everyone's opinions, I believe is the most appropriate one—and one that will not waste a single day.

Beginning in August 2012, in accordance with the relevant policies of the National Health Commission, I completed the traditional-medicine apprenticeship (shicheng) procedures, studying clinical medicine under a master, and walked a long road as an apprentice-based specialty physician. This year I also took the unified national college entrance examination and entered a medical college, formally becoming a full-time medical student. Over these years I have held myself to a high standard, drawing on the Chan Buddhist monastic principle of "a day without work is a day without food"; I have essentially kept up a daily medical study note, accumulating several million words of medical popular-science writing. I will maintain this habit for the rest of my life.

My ultimate ideal is to complete my knowledge structure by age 52, systematically mastering medical biology, Western clinical medicine, Chinese medicine, and psychiatry, so as to lay a firmer foundation for clinical and research work after 52. After 52, I may still have twenty or thirty years of clinical practice, medical research, and science popularization ahead of me, so these years of systematic study are by no means a waste of life but a necessary self-improvement.

This turning point in my life means that over the next five to seven years my work will also be adjusted accordingly. Medical students have a heavy study load, especially one like me who aims to integrate multiple fields of medicine; therefore I will be unable to respond to everyone's messages as promptly as before, and I hope you will understand. Patients with urgent conditions are beyond what I can serve.

After I graduate, I will return in a brand-new form and state to help fellow patients better and more comprehensively. For years I have been dissatisfied with my own knowledge, so I need these years of study; I look forward to your understanding. My beloved high-school teacher once admonished me to integrate Chinese and Western medicine as much as possible and to accumulate deeply before issuing forth; I am now carrying out this principle to realize my life plan.

While I study at the university, I will continue to update my articles as always; this is the best way I have found over the years to overcome inertia. Writing has helped me maintain a diligent habit, keeping me consistently energetic and in good form, and enabling me to reflect on myself often. I am especially grateful for this hobby of mine.

Finally, I wish everyone happiness every day, and hope that every patient will soon be freed from the suffering of illness!