Doctor carves career as local hero

Asanjan Yusuyin checks on a boy in his clinic in a township of Turpan city, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo by Gao Bo/China Daily]

Asanjan Yusuyin runs a clinic in a township of Turpan city, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

He is a local celebrity.

He lost his right leg in a car accident several months after he graduated from a local medical school in 2002 and said he was "depressed and stayed at home for days".

"My father, also a doctor of Uygur traditional medicine, pulled me back," recalled the 34-year-old.

He started to learn Uygur traditional medicine from his father. Combining the knowledge of Western medicine studied at school, Asanjan soon made remarkable progress on some local diseases, especially treating children.

"We all know he is good at seeing children, we all come here no matter how far it is," a woman said after Asanjan treated her 1-year-old son.

At his clinic, Asanjan also offers his patients two big beds, altogether the equivalent of five double beds.

"Normally, I can treat about 70 patients a day. They can stay here overnight if it is too late for them to go home," said Asanjan.

He has no time to walk and must sit for several hours, even if he feels pain in his left leg, which is still fixed by a steel plate.

Asanjan always tries to reduce the fee for patients by using Uygur medicines produced in Xinjiang and he is confident in their effectiveness.

"Some couldn't afford the medical fee, even the traffic fee, so I send several hundred yuan to them," Asanjan said. "I enjoyed the preferential policies of the disabled when I opened the clinic, I must give back to my fellows."

Asanjan's goal is to put the secret medicines handed down from his father into production. "This will further reduce medical fees and these medicines are effective for locals."