Why Every Doctor in China Looks Up to PUMCH – And My 20 Years Crossing Paths with Them
If you’re looking for international medical companionship in China, there’s one hospital name that everyone—patients, agents, even doctors—knows and respects: PUMCH. That’s short for Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
I’m Frank, and I run Airway MedBridge China. Today I want to tell you some personal stories—about me, my career, and my many run-ins with PUMCH over the past two decades. This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s just… my story. And if you’re coming to China for medical care, I think you’ll find it helpful.
The Beginning: I Didn’t Even Know PUMCH Existed
When I was filling out my college entrance exam application, I picked two medical schools. Both were outside of Beijing. Why? Honestly, Beijing was just too expensive for my family at the time. I didn’t want to put more financial pressure on them. Whether I even knew PUMCH existed back then… I’m not sure. Probably not. Or maybe it was just that PUMCH felt way too high, too unreachable for someone like me at the time.
The first time I can clearly remember hearing about it was when a classmate of mine decided to apply for a master’s program at PUMCH. Though honestly, my memory from that time is a bit fuzzy—but this is the moment that stands out. I thought, “How is that even possible?” At the time, I was really into my clinical rotations and felt like grad school should come after a few years of real hands-on work. But he got in. And later, he went abroad and became a doctor in another country.
Seeing PUMCH Surgeons in Action: It Changed How I See Surgery
After graduation, I was assigned to a hospital in Beijing. This was back when famous doctors from all over the city would come do surgeries at our place—kind of like guest appearances. I got to see a lot of big-name surgeons and some really complicated operations.
One that stuck with me: Professor Huang Hanyuan from PUMCH doing a radical mastectomy for breast cancer. It was cleaner, clearer, and smoother than the anatomy lab demonstrations we had in medical school. I’m not bad with my hands myself, but watching him… it was shocking. In a good way. He was the first surgeon who ever made me think, “Wow, this is art.”
The second one? Professor Liu Guilin from the pediatric surgery department at the PLA General Hospital (also known as 301 Hospital). I don’t even remember what operation it was. But I remember this man had huge hands—and he moved them like he was doing embroidery. Delicate. Precise. Unforgettable.
Selling Surgical Supplies: PUMCH Opens Doors
Later on, I worked for a company called Mölnlycke, selling disposable surgical drapes and gowns. Back then, hospitals in China couldn’t charge patients separately for disposables—PUMCH was no exception. But here’s the thing: PUMCH had already established an International Department where foreign patients could be treated under a different billing structure, so separate charges were a bit easier there. That’s why PUMCH became my top priority client. The big names in surgery, ophthalmology, and orthopedics—they were the ones I was hoping to partner with. If I could get them on board, they could help push disposable drapes and gowns into the International Department. Even though PUMCH itself couldn’t do separate billing either, the International Department was the breakthrough point—a model for everyone else. And those department heads? They were my way in.
The head of surgery I worked with closely there was… different. Really elegant. Soft-spoken. Made you feel comfortable. Totally different from the other surgical directors and surgeon-turned-hospital-presidents I’d met. I remember thinking: This is what a doctor should be. Making money standing tall. Making money with dignity. He later became the president of PUMCH and an academician.
His assistant back then was a young woman—the daughter of a PUMCH logistics staff member. She told me that very few of the PhD graduates at PUMCH get to stay each year, and even those who do… it’s incredibly competitive. And this was over twenty years ago! The operating room head nurse at the time had apparently just returned from Singapore. Compare that to other big hospitals—even the PLA General Hospital (301)—where most OR head nurses didn’t have master’s degrees or international backgrounds back then.
Working at Johnson & Johnson: Integrity at PUMCH
Then I moved to Johnson & Johnson’s endoscopic surgery division. PUMCH wasn’t my account, but a colleague of mine covered it. He had a master’s in urological surgery from Beijing Medical University, and his mentor later became an academician too.
He told me something that really stuck: PUMCH doctors would never use extra surgical staplers just because someone offered a bigger kickback. They only used them when it was clinically necessary—like ultra-low rectal cancer, where hand-sewing is really difficult and using a stapler increases the chance of saving the patient’s anus. At PUMCH, if you used something just for the money, your colleagues would look down on you. That’s the kind of culture they have there.
Funny enough, that same colleague eventually left J&J and went into medical companionship himself—helping patients from outside Beijing navigate the city’s hospitals.
A Cautionary Tale: The Sister Who Overplayed Her Hand
Around the same time, a coworker of mine on a foreign government loan project—he was a returnee from the US—told me about his sister. She was a doctor at PUMCH doing really well, about to become (or maybe already was) a vice department director. The department sent her to the US for further training—kind of a reward, a chance to add some international experience.
But she thought she was hot stuff. Before her training ended, she started negotiating with PUMCH—basically saying, “Give me better terms or I’m not coming back.” PUMCH’s response? They didn’t even blink. They told her to come back by a deadline or they’d strip her of her position. So she stayed in the US. And thankfully, she eventually made it as a doctor there too.
The lesson? At PUMCH, the institution is bigger than any individual. Always.
Selling Video Laryngoscopes: The “PUMCH Way”
When I was selling video laryngoscopes, airway management naturally meant dealing with the PUMCH anesthesiology department. Every single time I met with their department head or the anesthesiologists I worked with, I noticed something: PUMCH anesthesiologists are just… more “PUMCH” than anyone else. There’s a way they carry themselves. A boundary. A standard. At this point, “PUMCH” isn’t just a hospital name—it’s a level of professionalism.
My Classmates: “It’s Just Too Hard”
During all these years, quite a few of my university classmates went to PUMCH for advanced training, master’s degrees, or PhDs. Some had department heads and academicians as mentors. But how many of them actually stayed at PUMCH in the end? Zero. Not one. Some ended up as department directors or vice directors at other big—even prestigious—Beijing hospitals, which is great. But their exact words about PUMCH? “It’s too hard. Too intense. Not what we wanted.”
Even for the best doctors in China, PUMCH is a grind.
The Recent Incident: A “God” Can Bleed Too
Recently, something unfortunate happened at PUMCH—an OB/GYN department director was attacked by a patient in the outpatient clinic. From what I’ve read online, the attacker was reportedly someone who had studied at PUMCH before, though I can’t vouch for whether any of those details are accurate. I’m not going to comment on who was right or wrong. But one comment I saw really hit me: “Even a PUMCH director can be attacked—that actually makes me feel better.”
That says it all. In the hearts of Chinese doctors, PUMCH is a god-like place. At least it used to be. And honestly? Still is.
Why I’m Telling You All This
I run Airway MedBridge China. We help international patients navigate medical care in Beijing—including at PUMCH. I’m not going to spend a lot of time here explaining what we do, because you can find all that on our About Us and Contact Us pages.
But here’s what I’ll say: after 20 years in this industry—selling products, watching surgeries, working alongside the best doctors in China—I know these hospitals inside and out. I know the culture. I know what makes PUMCH special. And I know how overwhelming it can be for someone from another country to walk into a system like this.
If you or someone you know needs help with medical care in China, reach out to us. We’re here to help.