Surveys on community hospitals and clinics carried out by Sun Yat-sen University’s School of Public Health in underserved rural areas of Guangdong province showed that a major cause of weak primary health care in these areas is lack of postgraduate education and basic clinical skills for primary health staff.  This proposed three-year project aims to develop a regionally-tailored training model for rural primary health staff that would substantially improve the competence and quality of rural health workers.  This model would be developed in cooperation with local government, taking into account specific health service needs, existing deficiencies in the area and the educational background and professional skills of primary care staff.  It is anticipated that this model would be useful as a long-term, nationwide training model.