The first three medical exchange students from Capital Medical University completed their training at UNMC at the end of June.
At their graduation, Dele Davies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs, compared these students to pioneers. "A pioneer is someone who takes risks. You were the first group to come to UNMC from Capital Medical, so you didn’t really know what to expect. You took a risk, and here you are today."
When I talked with these students soon after their arrival in April, they said that they hoped to learn about the differences between the medical system in China and the U.S. By all accounts, they were successful.
Brad Britigan, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine, congratulated the participants on the level of insight they gained in only two months into the differences between health care systems in the U.S. and China. He also thanked the faculty and staff at UNMC who made their visit so successful.
Dr. Davies encouraged the students to not only think about the differences between the U.S. and China, but to learn from them. He said, "When we are exposed to different values and different ways of looking at the world, that is when the biggest creativity comes along, when we have the most interesting ideas, when we’re able to look at things differently, and can actually change the whole trajectory of our lives and of the lives of others. You’ve spent two months here, and you have learned some things about us. How is that experience going to change your perspective when you go back to China? How are you going to interact differently with your patients when you go back to China?"
Jialin Zheng, M.D., director of the Asia Pacific Rim Development Program, said that one of the goals of exchange programs such as this one is "to build future ambassadors between UNMC and Chinese institutions. For example, Le Kang, President of the Beijing Institutes of Life Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was a visiting scholar in Nebraska. He has since become a strong supporter of U.S.-China collaborations, and collaborations between UNMC and Chinese institutions. We hope that these students will go on to become ambassadors for UNMC like Dr. Kang."
These students are the first of many students from Capital who will visit UNMC. In the future, UNMC students from various colleges will also visit Capital.
Dr. Britigan echoed the thoughts of many when he said "You are now a part of the UNMC family. We hope that you will be back again, or, at least, that we can see you again in Beijing."