Medical:

• Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database — This website is, by far, still the best source of evidence-based and unbiased data on every herb, supplement and vitamin you would ever use. There’s a small fee for monthly use, but they also have a huge list of freely available and incredibly useful articles on the front page: look for “Clinical Management Series”
• Consumerlab –  Don’t know which brand of vitamins to buy? Fret no longer; the people at Consumerlab do their own independent testing of all the major brands. Their website is full of useful tidbits on all supplements and vitamins. Again, there’s a fee but it’s worth it for anyone interested in supplements.
• iHerb – I just discovered this website a month ago and already love it. Think of it as the Amazon.com of supplements. Many expats use this website to order at a very good deal — and they are delivered within 2 weeks from the US at extremely reasonable shipping fees. No more Costco runs and asking visiting friends to load up! Use coupon code ONU242 at checkout to get $5 off your first purchase.
• Chinadialogue – This is an outstanding, bilingual collection of well-written and researched articles on China’s many public health issues of the environment.
• Asia Healthcare Blog — This group is supersmart and they write extremely useful and thoughtful articles on all aspects of healthcare in China.
• Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — This website is still my most useful bilingual source of food safety information. Honestly, I wish by now there would be a mainland equivalent!
• US Embassy Beijingair feed — Yes, we still must give thanks to the original source.
• UpToDate – Pricy, but worth every penny for tens of thousands of doctors all over the world. By far, the most highly regarded evidence-based source of information for all physicians.

Non-Medical:

• Tuangou — you do use tuangou, yes? This is an absolute must for any laowai with a modicum of Chinese reading ability. Tuangou simply means “group buying” and refers to the dozens of Groupon-style websites that offer amazing deals on everything you can think of. My wife and I have bought hundreds of items on tuan800, meituan, gaopeng and many other sites and literally save tens of thousands of RMB every year on restaurants, movies, spas, houseware — anything.
• Weibo — I now love writing on my Weibo account more than on this blog! Weibo has really taken off in China, and it’s really fun to share my health information with 300 million Chinese people.
• Amazon.cn — I finally found a shopping website online in China that didn’t terrify me. Amazon has the same layout and easy payment system as in the US, and while their selection isn’t huge, it’s a lot more dependably authentic than on Taobao.
• Consumersearch – this is still my #1 website to research any consumer product, including air purifiers, water filters — anything.

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View This Poll

AQI 500 US Embassy Crazy Bad

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Richard Saint Cyr Photography Schoolhouse Mutianyu Beijing

A Bit More About Me

I have been taking photographs for over 25 years. Growing up in the Boston area, I moved to San Francisco and Sonoma county after graduating from Columbia University. Most of my photographic creativity has arisen while hiking around the spectacular beauty of Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay.

This collection of photographs offers the highlights of my portfolio to date, with an emphasis on the surreal and abstract forms in nature that we are surrounded with, yet we barely notice. The details of the artwork are not nearly as important as the overall impression the viewer gets; any lingering over a piece, or a second glance, is considered a success by me.

Most of the images here are from film, usually from Fuji’s lovely Velvia slide film. Final prints are processed via a digital darkroom using Adobe products, with very little post-processing or manipulation. My cameras have ranged from a Minolta X-700 to Nikon N65, then Nikon D70 and now the beautiful Canon D5 Mark II. My one essential filter is a polarizer.

I have my portfolio online at www.richardsaintcyr.com.

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I’ve had a couple other recent successes as well, mostly via my Weibo microblog which now has over 2,200 fans. I’ve also been chosen to be on the Medical Advisory Board for Physician Nexus, a private network for physicians. Also, I have been selected as one of the Top Doctors on the popular health website Organized Wisdom.

Thanks, everyone, for your continued support, and welcome to my new readers this week!

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Dear Beijing Healthcare Forum,

We’re excited to restart our the forum after a very long hiatus!

Beijing Healthcare Forum proudly presents:

BILL VALENTINO, ”An Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility in Pharmaceuticals”

Wednesday, August 31st,8:00pm

The talk will be followed by a Q&A session, and as well as ample opportunity to meet other BHF members.
Meeting Details:
Language: English
Date: 2011.08.31
Time: 8:00pm
Where: Abella
Address:  28 Dongzhimenwai Dajie,东直门外大街28号

A brief bio of his is below:

Bill Valentino is a recognized expert on sustainability, social entrepreneurship, social innovation and CSR.  He was the VP of Bayer’s Corporate Social Responsibility China, and worked for the company for 24 years until his retirement in July 2011.

Since leaving Bayer, he has been appointed Professor and Deputy Director of the China Institute for Social Responsibility at Beijing Normal University’s School of Social Development and Public Policy.  He also works at Tsinghua University as the Deputy Director of the Center for Health Care Communications in the newly established School of Public Health.

In 2004 he co-founded the Tsinghua-Bayer Public Health and HIV/AIDS Media Studies Program – from 2009 renamed the “Tsinghua-Bayer Institute for Public Health”. Up until his retirement he was the Co-director of the program.

Bill holds a MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management in Arizona and an MA in Instructional Technology and Media from Columbia University.

Hope to see you all there!

Best,
Angela, Ashton and James

 

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These two hot news stories touched upon a lot of larger issues about the pressures faced by both doctors and patients at local hospitals, and it provided much context in regards to comparisons with international clinics such as my hospital, Beijing United Family.

You can view the entire 30 minute Crossover broadcast below; if you cannot see the video, please click on this link here.

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The bottom line is that it’s not too difficult to find work here in China. Or perhaps I should rephrase that: it’s not as impossible as it is in many countries; for example, you do not need to retake a residency program simply to work here. Nor do you need to know Chinese; that’s because you’re not allowed to work in a local Chinese hospital anyway, and you are restricted to the few dozen expat clinics and hospitals scattered around China’s largest cities. Usually English is the primary language at these sites.

It’s just a few simple steps:

• You contact all the expat clinics in your city of choice
• You get hired by an expat hospital or clinic
• They sponsor you to take the medical exam — in English
• Voila! That’s it.

OK, it’s not that simple, but let’s take me for example: five years ago, when I knew I was moving to Beijing, I cold-called and emailed all of the expat clinics in Beijing; I eventually interviewed and got hired to work in the clinic and continue what I always do — family medicine. I started immediately and soon took Beijing’s twice-a-year medical exam for foreign doctors. This exam was in English and consisted of a two hour written exam of 100 general medicine questions very similar to Step 3 of the USMLE boards; the second part was a 20 minute oral presentation — in English — of a sample patient. You read the case for 5 minutes and then nervously discuss your assessment and treatment plans in front of an intimidating (but nice) panel of three local superstar doctors. Then you nervously wait a few weeks to find out; even if you do not pass, which isn’t rare, it’s not a disaster. Similar to your boards exams in America and elsewhere, you usually can continue to work and take the test again in a year. Once you pass, you do not need to retake the test.

Specialists vs GPs

It’s much easier for a family medicine doctor to find work here, mostly because most expat clinics hire a lot more GPs than specialists. Specialists are limited to the few expat hospitals in China. My company, United Family Healthcare, runs China’s largest and most prestigious group of foreign-owned hospitals in China and continues to expand into new cities, and we are always looking for top doctors from all over the world. You can keep an eye on our Physician Openings page or also send your CV to the HR department.

What is the Practice Like, and How Much Will You Make?

Your medical practice here will be eerily similar to your practice at home; your office will have the same exam table with the equipment on the wall; kids get the same vaccines (mostly); patients will have the same illnesses (mostly acute and not chronic diseases). At the expat clinics, we all try to follow international standards of care, and you will get your usual 20-30 minute slots per patient.

Of course, you will have some culture shock, otherwise what’s the point of coming? The nurses are all Chinese as required by law, so you will find a lot of cultural differences from them. It will be fascinating and fun, but also frustrating. Also, local hospital care is very, very different from the expat clinics, and you will almost never see a local Chinese person without insurance, mostly because a local doc costs maybe 10RMB (less than $2) while a typical expat clinic visit is about what you’d pay in the US — around $100. You will see a lot of Chinese patients but these are the wealthy groups, or ones who have good insurance, likely from a foreign-owned company.

Speaking of money: in general, the expat clinics will offer primary care docs a salary range similar to the salaries in the US. It depends on your package and your clinic. Usually you get free health insurance from your own clinic.

Where To  Find a List of Clinics?

Most expat clinics are in Beijing and Shanghai, with a few others scattered around top tier cities. To find the clinics, a simple Google search can help, but my favorite list is provided by the US Embassies; they have a list of expat clinics for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

And On A Personal Note…

Come to China! It’s an amazing experience. Five years ago, I never thought I would leave my paradise lifestyle in Sonoma County, but I’m still here in Beijing and having the best adventures of my life.

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If you already have a Weibo account and use the iPhone app, converting to English is easy: just click on the “More” icon (更多) in the lower right corner of the app, then click on the “Settings” icon ! (设置) just at the top; then click on the “Language” icon (多语言环境) in the middle; hit “English” and you’re done!

If you don’t yet have a Weibo account: it’s easiest to go first to the weibo.com website and make a new account, then download the Weibo app to your iPhone and then login via your email and password. The hardest part is registering if you don’t know Chinese:

Step 1: Go To Weibo.com. On the right side of their screen is a big green button which you should click on. See the image below:

Step 2:  registering a new account. You can choose to get a confirmation via mobile phone or by email, but I think email is easiest. If your Chinese is nonexistent, I strongly recommend you use Google’s Chrome browser both now and whenever you visit any Chinese website. The main reason is one of their awesome features; you can instantly translate any webpage with a click of the button. See the image below for the example on Weibo: click on “Translate” at top and the page becomes passable English. By the way, if you click and it says “error”, keep clicking! It works almost 100% of the time.

OK, now we can see the instructions in English, as seen in the next image. Just follow the image below; the trickiest part is picking a strong password and a cool Weibo screen name. Once you are done, hit enter, follow the confirmation instructions in your email or mobile, and you’re now on Weibo!

Weibo Registration Instructions in English

Step 3: Download the Weibo app to your device. This part is easy for anyone who has an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. Just go to your app store, search for “Weibo” and download the official app from Sina (it’s probably listed in Chinese; their official app download page is here). When you open it for the first time, you have to enter your email address (the top field) and then your password (the second field), and then hit the left button. Then you follow the instructions above under “if you already have a Weibo account” to switch the app to English.

Step 4: Become my fan! My Weibo screen name is “医生圣西睿智Richard“. No, it’s not a very catchy screen name but it gets to the point; in Chinese it means “Doctor Richard Saint Cyr”. I usually update my Weibo a couple times a day with health tips and public health alerts. I usually write in English but am also trying to type more Chinese. You can see my Weibo account here; you can also scroll through my latest Weibo posts here on this website, along the right side of this screen.

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减肥 jiǎnféi = to lose weight。例如: losing weight is the #1 way to prevent diabetes. 减肥是最有效的预防糖尿病的办法 Jiǎnféi shì zuì yǒuxiào de yùfáng tángniàobìng de bànfǎ http://t.cn/hr2vxV

预防疾病 yùfáng jíbìng = prevent disease. 例如 example： A good family doctor teaches his patients how to prevent disease. 一个好的家庭医生教他的病人如何预防疾病。

传染 chuánrǎn = infectious/ contagious. 例如 example：感冒的病毒很容易传染; 洗手可以预防感冒 . The common cold virus is very infectious; hand washing can prevent it.

鼻炎bíyán = Rhinitis. 例如 Example: the main symptoms of rhinitis are runny nose and cough 过敏性鼻炎的主要症状是流鼻涕和咳嗽. Guòmǐn xìng bíyán de zhǔyào zhèngzhuàng shì liúbítì hé késou

防晒霜 fángshài shuāng = sunscreen. 例如Example: Suntan lotion can help decrease your risk of skin cancer. 使用防晒霜可以帮助减少患皮肤癌的风险 Shǐyòng fángshài shuāng kěyǐ bāngzhù jiǎnshǎo huàn pífū ái de fēngxiǎn

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1. Diarrhea medicines. I think the number one cause of a ruined vacation is being stuck on a toilet for days with diarrhea. My favorite OTC medicine for this is loperamide (immodium), which is generally effective after age 2 to slow down most people’s watery (non-bloody) diarrhea. It doesn’t cure the infection but it does cut down the frequency of bathroom visits, which can be a godsend if you are on a long plane or bus ride. Also, a couple other healthy OTC medicines can help you recover more quickly, including the charcoal powder Smecta as well as probiotic pills such as Medilac. Both are also available for infants and toddlers.

In southern Asia, many bouts of diarrhea are caused by bacterial infections, so you should seriously consider carrying along some antibiotics as well. For example, many travel doctors now prescribe azithromycin with instructions on how to use as soon as diarrhea symptoms start. You would need a doctor’s visit to get antibiotics; oftentimes a local pharmacy will sell these to you but this isn’t legal and their instructions often are incorrect, or their choice may be dangerous for children.

2. Pain and fever medicines. It’s very common to get a headache or pain during vacations, whether from a sunburn, altitude sickness or any myriad reason. To help with this, you should bring along some child and adult versions of pain medicines, as you never know what your local pharmacy will have. Tylenol (paracetamol) and Motrin (ibuprofen) are the two most common OTC medicines, and both are very safe at the proper dose. I prefer ibuprofen due to its anti-inflammatory properties, although it can cause more stomach problems. Most children’s syrups come in sizes under 100 ml and thus are good for carry-on luggage.

3. Your DIY first aid kit should also include: small bottles of alcohol hand sanitizer; bandaids; an antibiotic ointment; chewable antacid pills to cure heartburn; anti-itch cream such as hydrocortisone; and good anti-mosquito spray — DEET 10-30% and picaridin 5-10% are by far the most effective and are considered safe for children over 2 months of age by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

4. Prescription medicines. If you take daily medicines for chronic diseases, don’t forget to bring enough to cover your trip — and maybe a bit more in case an elephant tramples on them. Also, keep a detailed list of your medicines somewhere safe, in case you lose your luggage and need all new medicines.

Don’t forget that you may need special vaccines or other prescription medicines, depending on where you travel. Many southeast Asian countries have malaria, so you may need to take prescription anti-malaria pills as prevention during and after your trip. If you go to Tibet you may want to bring medicine to prevent altitude sickness, a common illness which has ruined many people’s long-planned vacations. In all these cases, you need to plan at least one month in advance as you may need to receive a series of vaccines (such as rabies or japanese encephalitis), or your local clinic may need a few weeks to reorder malaria medicines, which frequently run out just before national holidays.

No matter where you travel, I always recommend that you first check out the U.S. CDC’s travel website, at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. They provide detailed information for every country regarding which vaccines you need as well as other health and security concerns.

(This article was originally printed in the May printed edition of Beijing Kids magazine. You can click here to read the rest of my “The Doc Is In” columns.)

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