In Lhasa, the capital of China's Xizang Autonomous Region, the Xizang Autonomous Region People's Hospital sits at an altitude of 3,650 meters. It serves as a window into medical aid to Xizang — local people call it a "lifesaving station."

Since the launch of the "group-style" medical aid program to Xizang in 2015, experts from Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) have taken turns serving here.

"When patients recover, our altitude sickness seems to vanish."

"While overcoming altitude hypoxia, colds, and allergies, the team members have already eagerly thrown themselves into the new work." This was written by Qiu Ling, Director of the Party Committee Office at PUMCH and a member of the first batch of the medical aid teams, in her diary two weeks after arriving in Xizang.

She drove the creation of the Xizang Autonomous Region Clinical Laboratory Center, and built the hospital's clinical laboratory into an internationally accredited facility… Altitude sickness did not dampen Qiu Ling's enthusiasm. After her term ended, she returned to Xizang multiple times to continuously elevate clinical laboratory standards there. 

Delivering medical care in an oxygen-deprived environment is an enormous challenge. And with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases running rampant on the plateau, emergency rescues are a daily reality for batch of aid doctors.

An elderly patient in his seventies was rushed to the emergency room with a ruptured aneurysm. With no artificial blood vessels and stents available, the family was on the verge of giving up.

"We must try every possible means to give this patient a chance." Ye Wei, Chief Physician of Vascular Surgery at PUMCH and a member of the eighth batch of "group-style" medical aid teams, urgently arranged for a stent to be airlifted from Chengdu while keeping vigil at the patient's bedside through the night.

During that time, the patient's aneurysm ruptured a second time, and blood pressure plummeted to 60 mmHg. The team fought desperately, refusing to give up. In the end, the stent arrived — and the patient was saved.

Elevated heart rate, deteriorating eyesight, graying hair… These are the marks left on many aid team members.

"When patients recover, our altitude sickness seems to vanish," Ye Wei said.

"People here has entrusted their lives to us — this trust must not be betrayed"

On January 7, 2025, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Tingri County, Xigaze City. At noon that day, Wu Dong, Vice President of PUMCH and President of the Xizang Autonomous Region People's Hospital, volunteered to lead an emergency rescue medical team to the disaster zone, becoming the first professional medical team to arrive.

A 5-year-old Tibetan girl named Mingzhen, rescued from the rubble, was on the brink of death due to hypoxic encephalopathy complicated by cerebral edema.

"No matter what difficulties we face, we must save this child." That was the only thought in Wu Dong's mind. He quickly led the team in organizing a multidisciplinary consultation, performed an emergency decompressive craniectomy to control the condition, and arranged helicopter transport to Chengdu for follow-up treatment. In the end, the little girl's life was saved.

Whether facing critical illnesses or charging into emergency rescue, the medical aid team has always been at the front line, standing at the most dangerous points.

Wang Qiang, Associate Chief Physician of Gastroenterology at PUMCH and a member of the tenth batch of "group-style" medical aid teams, identified multiple gaps in advanced endoscopic technologies locally. He led his team in actively performing four new procedures — including endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy and endoscopic submucosal excavation — filling long-standing technological voids at the hospital.

"People here has entrusted their lives to us — this trust must not be betrayed," Wang Qiang said.

"Aid to Xizang is not a 'whirlwind' — it is a 'steady stream'"

Successfully performing Xizang's first robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy, first endoscopic submucosal dissection for a complex case of early gastric cancer, first "growth-friendly" spinal correction surgery for a child… Over the past decade, PUMCH has introduced more than 300 new technologies and procedures, and the vision of "major illnesses treated without leaving Xizang" is becoming reality.

Introducing technology is only the first step. Can medical standards be sustained after the aid experts depart?

"Aid to Xizang is not a 'whirlwind' — it is a 'steady stream.'" Xu Haifeng, Chief Physician of Hepatobiliary Surgery at PUMCH and a member of both the ninth and tenth batches of "group-style" medical aid teams, knows well that only when technology takes root can it truly help Xizang.

Through mutual selection, he identified three mentees and crafted personalized training plans; helped the department establish a hepatobiliary malignant tumor specimen bank and database; leveraged the PUMCH platform to apply for special funds and encourage department members to actively pursue research projects… Today, the vast majority of doctors in the department can independently perform Level-III surgeries or above, and multiple papers have been published in core journals.

"What Xu taught us is not just surgical skills, but also the courage and confidence to stand up for patients," said Sonam Dorje, Associate Chief Physician of General Surgery at the Xizang Autonomous Region People's Hospital and one of Xu Haifeng's mentees.

Over the past decade, the PUMCH medical aid team has organized more than 2,000 training sessions and sent over 100 local doctors to Beijing for further studies. From "blood transfusion" to "blood creation," from clinical treatment to teaching and research, generation after generation of PUMCH people have acted to cultivate a local medical team for Xizang.

"The next step is to gradually shift from medical technology aid to multi-faceted support encompassing medicine, education, research, and management." Under Wu Dong's initiative, 56 "group-style" medical aid team members have stepped onto the lecture halls of Xizang University, and the concept of "medicine-education synergy" is taking root and blossoming across the plateau.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Xizang. Picking up the stethoscopes and scalpels of their predecessors, the eleventh batch of "group-style" medical aid team members from PUMCH continue to stand firm on the plateau.

Reporter: Xu Penghan

Translator: Peng Qing, Liu Fang

Reviewer: Hu Rongguo, Drakpa Wangchen