Reading Chinese doctor credentials: practice certificate, qualification and title in English
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A Chinese doctor's credentials are written in a handful of fixed terms. This page translates the labels on the national registration query's result page and the certificate names in the Physicians Law (医师法), so a record can be read side by side with the original Chinese. The English wording is this site's own translation, not an official one.
Two certificates, two different meanings
The Physicians Law names two certificates. The qualification certificate (医师资格证书) is issued when a person passes the physician examination. The practice certificate (医师执业证书) is issued when a person registers with a health authority.
The law says nobody may practise as a physician without a registered practice certificate. The practice certificate and its registered details are therefore the credential that a registration lookup shows.
The labels on the national registration query result
The national query's result page, as defined in the portal's own script, uses these labels. The English column is our translation.
| Chinese label | English |
|---|---|
| 姓名 | Name |
| 性别 | Sex |
| 医师级别 | Doctor level |
| 执业类别 | Practice category |
| 医师专业 | Doctor specialty |
| 执业地点 | Practice location |
| 执业证书编码 | Practice certificate code |
| 主要执业机构 | Main practice institution |
| 执业范围 | Scope of practice |
| 中医药技术方法 | Traditional Chinese medicine techniques and methods |
| 治疗病症范围 | Range of conditions treated |
| 美容主诊医师专业 | Cosmetic lead-physician specialty |
| 发证(批准)机关 | Issuing (approving) authority |
| 多机构备案信息 | Multi-institution filing information |
The portal's script also lists three labels for each multi-institution filing: institution name (机构名称), validity period (有效期) and filing authority (备案机关).
The portal's script gives labels only, so a real record may show more detail than the labels suggest.
How the Physicians Law uses the same terms
The Physicians Law links several of these terms to rules:
- A physician practises in a medical institution according to the registered place of practice (执业地点), practice category (执业类别) and scope of practice (执业范围).
- A physician who practises regularly at two or more medical institutions must designate one as the main institution.
- A physician who changes the place, category or scope must register the change with the authority that approved the registration, unless an exempted activity such as training or consultation applies.
- The law defines a physician as either a practising physician (执业医师) or a practising assistant physician (执业助理医师).
Titles are a separate system
The Physicians Law says the state sets up a system for physicians' professional titles, with professional ethics, practical ability and work performance as important conditions. A professional title therefore sits in a separate system from the practice certificate. The portal's result script lists no professional-title label.
Reading a record without over-reading it
The portal's own text says results follow the data of the provincial health commissions. The portal's search-form script also carries a data cut-off label (查询数据截止到). The result labels include no rating field, and this page does not recommend any doctor or hospital.
The National Health Commission's service platform lists a licensed doctor query (执业医师查询). That platform page forwards to the national doctor registration query. Our method page sets out the official sources and limits this site works within.
Questions people ask
What is the practice certificate code?
It is the field the portal labels 执业证书编码. The registered practice certificate is the one issued on registration.
Is a professional title the same as a licence?
No. The Physicians Law deals with professional titles and with registration and the practice certificate in separate provisions.
What does scope of practice mean on a record?
It is the field labelled 执业范围. The Physicians Law says a physician practises according to the registered place, category and scope.
What is multi-institution filing information?
It is the field labelled 多机构备案信息. The portal's script lists the filing institution's name, validity period and filing authority under it.
Sources
- Law of the PRC on Physicians, adopted 20 August 2021 (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress), read 26 October 2026
- National query portal application script, result and detail labels (National Health Commission), read 26 October 2026
- National query portal application script, search form rules and notices (National Health Commission), read 26 October 2026
- National Health Commission service platform, look-up page (National Health Commission), read 26 October 2026
- National Health Commission service platform, licensed doctor query page (National Health Commission), read 26 October 2026
Each source above was read on the date shown. This page is an unofficial summary of general administrative information. It is not published by the bodies named above, and it is not medical advice. If it differs from the official texts, the official texts prevail, and rules may change after the check date.