The specialist who successfully performed a liver transplant for the girl Nur Asyura Medina, who suffered from congenital biliary atresia, is a Malaysian, and is also the first foreigner to obtain a Chinese medical license—Yang Yongkang. He was personally thanked by Chinese President Xi Jinping for donating hematopoietic stem cells and successfully saving a young life.
Medina’s illness previously attracted the attention of UMNO Youth Chief and Merlimau (Melaka) State Assemblyman Akmal, who donated RM 120,000 to help cover the total RM 180,000 liver transplant cost.
This sum was originally savings by Akmal and his wife for their pilgrimage trip, but they ultimately chose to use it to save the life of this young girl.
Recently, Dato' Akmal visited a hospital in Shanghai, China, to see Nur Asyura Medina, where he revealed that the doctor who operated on Medina was Yang Yongkang, who hails from Johor, Malaysia.
Yang Yongkang currently serves as a doctor in the liver surgery department at Shanghai Renji Hospital, and becoming a doctor had been his dream since childhood.
"When I was a child and saw my grandfather sick and suffering—probably leukemia, as he had frequent blood transfusions—it pained me deeply."
Yang Yongkang vowed in front of his grandfather that he would become a doctor when he grew up. At that time, he was only 10 years old, and little did he know that the journey to realize his dream would be so full of twists and turns.
According to "Wenhui Daily," Yang Yongkang, born in 1977, is from Johor, Malaysia. In 1997, he graduated with a degree in biomedical sciences from the National University of Malaysia. Unfortunately, after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in 2001, due to certain restrictions on medical practice locally, he could not become a doctor.
Thus, he sought overseas study opportunities to pursue his medical dream. At that time, his uncle, who was attending a conference at Tianjin Medical University, told him, "Come study medicine here, the environment is very good."
After careful consideration, Yang Yongkang chose to study in China. He was admitted to Tianjin Medical University and decided to retake a five-year clinical medicine undergraduate program. After graduating in 2006, he was recommended for postgraduate studies at Tongji University School of Medicine, began his internship at Shanghai East Hospital, affiliated to Tongji University, in 2007, and after completing his master's degree in 2009, stayed at East Hospital for standardized residency training.
In 2012, Yang Yongkang became a qualified resident physician. However, as there was no legal support at the time for foreigners to register as practicing doctors with a Chinese medical license, he could only serve as an intern doctor in the hospital. For a full two years, while his peers had already settled down with careers and families, he persisted on the road to pursuing his dream.
Finally, in March 2014, the former National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the "Reply of the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Approving Foreigners Who Have Obtained Chinese Medical Qualifications to Register for Medical Practice in China," making Yang Yongkang the first foreign registered medical doctor in China. Yang Yongkang considered himself very lucky to have caught such good policies in a good era. What moved him even more was that he never expected that in this “ancestral land” of China, he would achieve his life’s dream.
Since choosing to study in China in 2001, Yang Yongkang has now lived in China for 24 years, settled in Shanghai for 19 years, and married a Shanghai woman in 2013, becoming a Shanghai "son-in-law." He repeatedly says he is “very lucky” to have realized his childhood dream in China, in Shanghai.
Additionally, since starting university in Malaysia, Yang Yongkang has been a regular and voluntary blood donor. Since his first blood donation at age 18, he has donated blood more than 20 times in Malaysia and, after coming to study in China, has given blood over 100 times. He has received the National Voluntary Blood Donation Gold Award, the Magnolia Volunteer Blood Donation Award, and many others.
It is worth mentioning that during President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia in 2013, he specifically thanked Yang Yongkang, a student studying in China, in his speech for donating hematopoietic stem cells and successfully saving the life of a young child. Today, Yang Yongkang is a doctor at Shanghai Renji Hospital.
Yang Yongkang is also the first foreign donor of hematopoietic stem cells in China. Now, he is a doctor at Shanghai Renji Hospital and the first foreign doctor to obtain a medical license to practice in China, having practiced medicine in Shanghai officially for 10 years. According to Xinhua News Agency, after being thanked by President Xi Jinping, Yang was so excited that he could not sleep the whole night.
"I (Yang Yongkang) never imagined that such an ordinary deed would receive such high recognition."
Yang Yongkang also mentioned: "President Xi’s recognition demonstrates the spirit of mutual support between the people of our two countries. This encouragement strengthens my resolve to stay in China and persist in my medical career of saving lives. I will continue to participate in blood donation and other public welfare activities, and strive to become a bridge of friendship between Malaysia and China."