China News Service, Lanzhou, September 6 (Reporter Ding Si) "Currently, medical technology is changing with each passing day. Artificial intelligence and smart medical care are deeply integrated into clinical practice, which has greatly expanded the boundaries of medical treatment. But technology is always just a tool, and medicine faces living, emotional and hopeful people." Shi, Vice President of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association Shengfeng said in a speech in Lanzhou on the 5th, "Technology can relieve pain, but humanity can soothe people's hearts. The more rapidly science and technology develops, the more we must keep the spiritual core of medicine, properly handle the relationship between technical rationality and humanistic care, and integrate respect for life and compassion for patients throughout the entire process of diagnosis and treatment services."
On September 5, the 2026 Eighth Chinese Medical Humanities Conference was held in Lanzhou, Gansu. Photo courtesy of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University
On that day, the 2026 Eighth Chinese Medical Humanities Conference was held in Lanzhou, Gansu. With the theme of "Humanity Leading, Integrity and Innovation - Medical Temperature for the Future", this conference focuses on key areas such as clinical humanities implementation, hospital culture construction, medical humanities education, resolution of doctor-patient conflicts, palliative care, and health professionalism, and builds a multi-dimensional exchange and discussion platform. Medical experts from all over the country looked back at the history of medical exchanges along the Silk Road, absorbed traditional medical wisdom, and combined with the current development status of the medical industry, jointly explored effective paths for the implementation of medical humanities.
The Chinese Medical Humanities Conference has been held eight times since its inception in 2017. Over the past eight years, the conference has continued to deepen the communication and practice of medical humanities, promoting the gradual implementation of medical humanistic spirit from theoretical concepts to clinical services, and has become a highly influential industry exchange platform in the field of domestic medical humanities.
On September 5, Zheng Binglin, director of the Institute of Dunhuang Studies at Lanzhou University, gave a report and shared with the public "The contribution of Dunhuang literature to Sino-foreign medical exchanges." Photo by Ding Si
Gansu is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization. Dunhuang documents retain a large number of precious historical materials on ancient Chinese and foreign medical exchanges, which bear witness to the historical character of traditional Chinese medicine that is inclusive and inclusive. At the meeting, Zheng Binglin, director of the Institute of Dunhuang Studies at Lanzhou University, shared the Dunhuang documents and systematically interpreted their important value and unique contribution in the history of ancient Sino-foreign medical exchanges.
"From the Hippocratic Oath to the sincere tradition of my country's great doctors, from the gleaming medical records in ancient Dunhuang books to the reform practice of contemporary medical and health services, the development of medicine is always inseparable from the advancement of technology, let alone the nourishment of humanity." Zhou Wence, dean of the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University (Second Clinical School of Medicine), said that medicine is a cause of symbiosis between science and humanity. If medical technology is the sharp blade that protects life, then medical humanities is the warmth that upholds life. The high-quality development of medical and health care in the new era requires not only hard-core technological breakthroughs, but also a profound humanistic background; it is necessary to not only focus on the improvement of diagnosis and treatment capabilities, but also to adhere to the origin of doctors' benevolence.
As a large comprehensive tertiary hospital rooted in the northwest, the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University relies on the comprehensive disciplinary advantages of Lanzhou University, is based in Gansu, and radiates to the northwest. While deeply cultivating medical care, teaching, and scientific research, it has always placed the construction of medical humanities in an important position in the development of the hospital. In recent years, the hospital has also been actively exploring the application of artificial intelligence technology in clinical scenarios, trying to empower humanistic care with digital technology, using technical means to optimize the medical experience, and letting cold data convey humanistic warmth.
This conference has multiple links such as theme reports, round table discussions, and narrative medicine sharing. Medical industry practitioners across the country combine their own research and clinical practice to share their experience in implementing humanistic medical care, exchange industry construction experiences, and jointly answer industry questions in the new era of "Why can medicine be more warm?" and promote the in-depth integration of medical humanistic concepts into the entire medical service chain.
Zhang Honggang, a second-level inspector of the Gansu Provincial Health Commission, said that the humanistic quality of medical staff is the fundamental support for the implementation of heart-warming services. Gansu attaches great importance to the cultivation of professional quality of the health care team, formulated the "Gansu Province Medical Humanistic Care Improvement Action Plan", and vigorously guides the majority of medical workers to change their service concepts.
At the same time, Gansu continues to discover and select advanced models of the province's health care system, publicize the touching deeds of the most beautiful medical workers, medical ethics models and grassroots service pioneers, and use the power of real role models around them to infect and drive all medical workers to think about problems and provide services from the perspective of patients, protect the health of the people with professional capabilities, and shorten the distance between doctors and patients with sincerity and warmth. (over)
