A Taitung emergency room doctor who volunteered six times as a war medic in Ukraine has entered the county council race, a long-shot bid framed around fixing the region's thin medical staffing.

• Wu Pei-shan, an emergency doctor at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taitung for ten years, registered ten minutes before the deadline after a full day of hesitation.
• She made six medical missions to Ukraine in three years, signing a waiver accepting the risk of death each time.
• Her pitch is that policy can save more people than treating patients one by one, especially as Taitung loses nurses and doctors.
• She is running without a campaign headquarters and says she wants a clean race decided on practical proposals.
• The odds are steep: 56 candidates are chasing 30 seats countywide, and her district has 17 running for 10, including veteran incumbents and relatives of the county chief and a sitting legislator.

Outlook: With no political machine or family base behind her, her campaign will test whether a personal record of humanitarian work can beat established local networks.