A Chinese doctor has left her promising medical career to take up part-time work as a delivery driver and pub singer. Liu Zihan, 31, said that taking up odd jobs allows her to live her life without stress while paying her living expenses.
A South China Morning Post report described Liu as a doctoral graduate in medicine who left her hospital job to embrace a “less meritocratic” lifestyle.
A ‘meritocratic’ life
She was raised in Hebei, a northern Chinese province known for its highly competitive education system, and spent a year at Hengshui High School, an institution noted for its rigorous, military-style approach to schooling.
She later enrolled in the medical programme at Sichuan University before going on to earn a doctoral degree from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Macau. By 2022, Liu had completed her PhD at 27 and started working as a psychiatrist at a hospital.
The 31-year-old described the first three decades of her life as “meritocratic”.
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Why she quit
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Why she quit
{{/usCountry}}At the hospital, her approach to patient care was warmly received, with some patients expressing their appreciation through handwritten thank-you letters and gratitude pennants.
Liu said she valued having sincere interactions with patients, regardless of their background or social status. “I prefer genuine communication between hearts,” she stated.
However, in February this year, Liu decided to leave her full-time job as a psychiatrist and postdoctoral researcher at a hospital in Zhuhai, China. The SCMP report described the hospital as one of the country’s most prestigious hospitals.
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Liu said that she found it increasingly difficult to stick to the conventional work schedule with rigid timings.
Life after quitting medical career
The Chinese woman understood that earning a PhD could open the door to a stable career, professional recognition and a comfortable income. Yet over time, she came to realise that this conventional path was not what she wanted for herself.
After leaving her job, she spent some time travelling before taking up a series of unconventional jobs, including selling breakfast and performing at a pub.
These experiences brought her into contact with people from very different walks of life, including those who ran restaurants, pubs and food stalls — professions that are often regarded as less prestigious. Yet Liu was struck by their “optimism, resilience, and chill”, qualities she felt had been largely absent from her earlier life.
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Liu still works part-time as a therapist. She said the pressures she encountered in her professional life, along with the hesitation she felt about pursuing a different way of living, are experiences shared by many young people today.
“Delivery riders share traffic updates, and pub singers and stall owners look out for each other. In comparison to grades and competition, there are far more significant values, like care and support,” she said.