[Editor’s Note: YAN Shiyu, preventive medicine (Class of 2017), is the recipient of both the Chu Kochen Scholarship and the honor of the Ten Best ZJU Students, the highest accolades for ZJU students. An academic highflyer, rising research scientist and active volunteer, Yan’s latest endeavor is the Youth Health Protection Project. In this feature story, we learn more about healthcare in China and how she’s contributing to its development, one step at a time.]

Leaving the comfort zone

It was the autumn of 2017. Preventive medicine was still relatively unknown and Yan did not quite know what to make of her newly chosen major. Medical prophylaxis seemed like an interesting career trajectory but too much was still up in the air. Faced with the crossroads, Yan decided to stick to her chosen path and she credits her motivation to explore the unknown in helping her find footing in those early days.

A stable environment and a clear direction are important, but the courage to break out of one’s comfort zone was the defining step. Whilst initially concentrating on basic medicine, Yan realized that it was not working for her after spending two full years into it. This realization forced her to take a leap of faith in changing from basic medical research to public health research. “Looking back, I am relieved that I had the courage to make such a bold decision,” Yan reflects on what retrospectively has been a life-changing decision.

The Problem

In May 2020, when Yan switched her research field, the topic of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology (PAG) caught her attention. Facing a subject that she had never heard of, Yan started from scratch and found limited available information, especially in terms of clinical guidelines and data specific to China.

The project was co-directed by the School of Public Health and clinicians. Although majoring in preventive medicine, Yan had the opportunity to deep-dive into the world of clinical medicine and get in touch with real-life cases. She learned that in rural areas a simple foreign body in the female genitalia can be misdiagnosed due to limited medical expertise in dealing with the situation “So some girls even have lost their chance to be mothers even before they grow up. When I heard about these stories, I couldn’t help but feel the urgent need to do something about it to make a difference.”

In July, Yan learnt about the Challenge Cup. She immediately signed up, and the Youth Health Project was thus born.

The Project

“I’m really grateful to all the teachers who offered me so much help and advice. I am equally grateful to ZJU which gave me the opportunity to make a such a positive impact on society.” Yan also credits the encouraging, open and innovative ZJU environment with enabling her Youth Health Protection Project to win the first prize in the Challenge Cup.

After the competition, Yan decided to continue the project with a philanthropic goal. Yan and her teammates went out of campus and researched more than 300 doctors and 1000 patients from over 100 hospitals to deepen their knowledge of the topic, seeking to devote themselves to changing social conditions and promoting medical development.  

With guidance from professional clinicians and their teachers, Yan and the team designed and taught micro-courses about PAG both online and offline. After contacting various organizations such as the government, primary schools, secondary schools, hospitals and educational support groups, they successfully launched various courses all across the country.

“It is a wonderful thing to help girls from all over the country realize that their growth is a beautiful thing. Our contribution is worthwhile.” Looking back on this, a broad smile beamed across Yan’s face, “While we are still young, we must push harder. Then only can we make the world a better place.”

Source:Global Communications,Zhejiang University