In 1977, after a grueling nation-wide examination in China, Aina was admitted into one of the five most prestigious Traditional Chinese Medicine universities in China – Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. On average, less than 1 % of total applicants were admitted into universities in that year, because it was the first year Chinese universities opened to applicants after 10 years of the Great Culture Revolution in China.
In comparison, Harvard University accepts about 7% to 10% of applicants in recent years.
In the summer of 1982, she graduated from the university and obtained her medical doctor’s degree in both Chinese and Western medicine. During her five years of full-time study in the university, Aina was a “straight-A” student, and that earned her the honor to choose her favorite gynecology department in the hospital to start her career, as the vast majority of jobs were dictated to each university graduate in China at that period.
After five years of practicing both Chinese and Western medicine, she went through another round of even more grueling examinations and was admitted to a master’s degree program in gynecology in the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Only 1% to 2% of university graduates were admitted to post-graduate programs in China during that period. As always, Aina was again an “straight-A” student among a group of the most elite students. In 1989, Aina received her master’s degree in gynecology.
