Abstract: The health vocational education plays a dual role of poverty alleviation and health care in tackling poverty. However, problems do exist in precise poverty alleviation for current Yunnan higher health occupational education, namely inadequacy in playing a full role,failure to highlight its advantage, absence of high enthusiasm and little recognition of the effort by poverty-stricken people. Therefore, effort should be made by the cadres and workers in health occupational colleges such as to further deepen the reform of education and teaching and improve the quality of personnel training; to reinforce the scientific research and apply the results into the poverty alleviation project; to strengthen on-the-job education and professional training and improve the medical staff's professional ability; to take the initiative to undertake tasks and actively provide services for poor people.

Key words: health vocational colleges, poverty alleviation, service function