Doctor titles in China explained: from physician to chief physician

Doctors in China hold several separate credentials. Two matter here. The practice certificate is issued on registration and lets a doctor practise. The professional title (职称) is a separate grade that runs from assistant physician up to chief physician. This page explains the title ladder from the national guidance on health professionals' titles. It does not rank doctors or hospitals.

The title ladder

The national guidance says titles for health professionals are junior, intermediate and senior. It splits the junior level into an assistant grade (士级) and a practitioner grade (师级), and the senior level into associate senior and full senior.

For medical doctors the guidance names the titles, in order, as 医士, 医师, 主治（主管）医师, 副主任医师 and 主任医师. This site renders them in English as assistant physician, physician, attending physician, associate chief physician (or deputy chief physician) and chief physician. These English names are this site's wording, not an official translation.

How a title relates to the practice qualification

The guidance links titles to the practice qualification. A person who obtains the practising assistant physician qualification may be treated as holding the 医士 title. A person who obtains the practising physician qualification may be treated as holding the 医师 title. A person who obtains the qualification of a traditional Chinese medicine (specialty) physician may also be treated as holding the 医师 title.

The Physicians Law says the state sets up a system for setting, evaluating and appointing to professional titles and posts, with professional ethics, practical ability and work performance as important conditions.

Intermediate, associate senior and full senior titles

The guidance says the intermediate title uses a national unified examination, and that candidates need the relevant education and meet further conditions to register for it. It adds that specialties already covered by the unified examination no longer get a separate title review.

The guidance says the associate senior title is in principle awarded through an examination combined with a review. It says the full senior title can use an examination combined with a review, or a defence combined with a review, and that peer expert evaluation is the base.

What the senior titles require

The guidance sets conditions for the associate chief physician title. A candidate with a bachelor's degree or above needs five years of appointment as an attending physician, and the candidate must complete a set work volume. In the clinical, dental and traditional Chinese medicine categories the candidate must also supply case records of cases the candidate treated or led.

For the chief physician title, the guidance sets a condition of five years of appointment as an associate chief physician for a candidate with a bachelor's degree or above, together with the set work volume. Our page on what chief physician means on a hospital profile goes through these conditions in more detail.

What titles are not based on

The guidance says it emphasises medical ethics in evaluation, and that titles obtained through fraud or other violations are revoked. It also says papers, awards, overseas study and doctoral degrees are not required conditions for applying.

The guidance sets national basic standards. It says the application conditions in regional and employer standards should in principle not be lower than the national standard.

Service at the grassroots

The guidance says a practising physician who is promoted to associate senior title should have accumulated at least one year of service in a medical institution below county level or in a paired support institution. This guidance sets that condition for the associate senior title.

Doctors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and foreign doctors

The guidance says health professionals from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who work on the mainland may take part in title evaluation under the rules. It says foreigners who hold a permanent residence card or a local high-level overseas talent permit may do the same.

Checking registration rather than title

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. The result labels in the portal's script include 医师级别 but none reading 职称, the Chinese term for professional title. Our method page sets out the official sources and limits this site works within.

Questions people ask

Is a chief physician better than an attending physician?

The guidance describes different title levels with different conditions. The guidance sets title levels and conditions and is not a ranking of doctors, and this page does not recommend any doctor or hospital.

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.

Does every hospital use the same title rules?

The guidance sets national basic standards and lets regions and employers set their own, but their application conditions should in principle not be lower than the national ones.

Sources

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.

This unofficial explanation reflects official pages read on the dates shown in each source note; it does not verify any named doctor and is not medical advice, and the live official record prevails. Medical and legal notice.