In the path of the trailblazing barefoot doctors

The villagers line up at the entrance of the township health center as well as inside the waiting room for free checkups. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It is this team that villagers will turn to when they realize that their condition is beyond self-help.

Hundreds of villagers are scattered throughout the mountains, and it is particularly difficult to complete family physician duties on rainy days. Landslides destroyed bridges and damaged some parts of the road late last year, and the impact on transport is still being felt.

Often when Wugyan Tsering treats patients he dispenses medicines, gives infusions, administers oxygen therapy and occasionally undertakes cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

If a patient is severely ill, he provides basic treatment before transferring the patient to a larger hospital in the city of Shangri-La, about 100 kilometers away, or in Lijiang, about 200 kilometers away, the latter being ideal because of its lower altitude.

In the meantime, an ambulance from the city can be on the way, preparing to pick up patients halfway.

Wugyan Tsering says that for years he has paid for some patients' costs out of his own pocket, given that many elderly, impoverished patients have been unable to afford the full cost of their care.