China Medical University &
Japan-China Medical Cooperation
David Tharp
The Nippon Foundation
The Nippon Foundation
Indepth Articles
[Sep. 30, 2008]
China Medical University &
Shenyang, China --- A major symbol of Chinese medical expertise is China Medical University (CMU) in Shenyang, the industrial heartland of northeast China. Dr Qun Zhao, the president of CMU, is also the president of the China-Japan Medical Association,
and a strong supporter of China-Japan medical exchange.
A number of CMU medical doctors, and other physicians from throughout China, have benefited from one-year fellowships to study at Japanese hospitals and medical universities, as part of the Japan-China Sasakawa Medical Fellowship program established in 1986, and coordinated by the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation, a partner of The Nippon Foundation.
The Japan-China Sasakawa Medical Fellowship is the result of a tripartite agreement between the Chinese Ministry of Public Health, the Japan-China Medical Association and the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation (SMHF).
Under the program, each year about 100 Chinese medical health professionals are given the chance to come to Japan to attend Japanese medical universities and learn the latest in medical technology. They then return to China to put their new knowledge to use, thus benefiting their own universities and Chinese society.
During the last 20 years starting in 1987, over 2,000 Chinese medical doctors and researchers received grants to study in Japan for one year. The program has been extended for another ten years, and is expected to benefit about 2,000 medical personnel over the twenty years of the project.
China Medical University
Last year in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 20th year of the Japan-China Sasakawa Medical Fellowships. The program is acknowledged as a strong bridge of friendship between Japan and China. The celebration was attended by some 1,200 individuals from both Japan and China: 500 attendees from Japan and 700 Chinese fellows who are active throughout China.
Both parties announced the decision to seek even higher levels of medical exchange between the two nations by inviting a total of 150 doctors (30 each year) to Japan under a new five-year program that began in April 2008.
Also, in 1992, a special program that subsequently brought select researchers to Japan was launched to promote ever-more advanced research. Together, these various programs have brought medical professionals from China to study at 200 Japanese universities and medical institutions.
Chinese Minister of Health Chen Zhu has expressed gratitude to Japan saying, "This program is a model for human resource development and has contributed significantly to China's modernization." Referring to an ancient proverb, he also commented, "If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people." Dr. Chen then expressed hopes for the future expansion of the program.
Recently, Dr Zhao, the dynamic president of CMU, visited the Nippon Foundation in Tokyo to meet with foundation officials and discuss details of the bilateral medical exchange program. In Shenyang, Dr Zhao presides over one of the top ten medical schools in China. Over the past 70 years CMU has educated more 60,000 high level medical personnel. The hospital has 3,400 staff members, including 491 professors and associate professors, 69 medical departments and laboratories and 3,000 hospital beds.
Dr Zhao shows the best of Chinese hospitality to all visitors to CMU, and this is reflected in the warm, friendly attitudes of everyone on his staff.