BANGALORE: Many Chinese still go to local clinics for most heart problems.

The rapidly changing lifestyle in most cities there are affecting thousands of people and there aren't enough 'speciality' hospitals to take care of the numbers.

Senior cardiac surgeon of the Liaoning Hospital, Shenyang, Li Qiang, made this observation as he and other doctors from the hospital learnt the nuances of cardiac surgery from the doctors of Wockhardt Hospital and Heart Institute here.

"Healthcare in our country is by and large privatised. We have been efficient in handling congenital - children's - heart diseases.

But we still have to learn a lot about adult by-pass. That's why we are here," said Cai Chang Hua, senior anaesthesiologist.

The doctors are sure that with increasing awareness about heart ailments, even those who used to go to local doctors would prefer a cardiologist now.

"We only need to equip ourselves and keep pace with the rest of the world," he said.

The team had browsed the Internet to search for cardiac care institutes before they clicked on Vivek Jawali's team at the Wockhardt.

And, guess what surprised them the most? "That the hospital operates on at least 1,200 cases a year. The variety, complexity and style drew us to the institution," he added.