UNMC and its Asia Pacific Rim Development Program (APRDP) recently held its inaugural graduation for its China Scholarship Council Faculty Medical Education Trainees (Midwest China Region).
The three-month training program, held at UNMC’s Omaha campus, continues UNMC’s effort to spread its primary care and medical training practices globally, especially with close partners in China.
The faculty educated at UNMC will, in turn, go back to their home universities and teach their own students in these new methods. Many of these faculty will educate not only homegrown Chinese students, but also international students, said Hannah Tong, Ph.D., a senior research associate in pharmacology and experimental neuroscience who also works for APRDP.
“We see them as our ambassadors,” Dr. Tong said. “And through their international students, they will pass on our UNMC mission and methodologies all around the world.”
Lina Chen, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology at Xi’an Jiaotong University, was happy to be back at UNMC for a second time – she’d previously been a visiting scholar for research. She was impressed with UNMC’s simulation technology and the iEXCEL program.
Dr. Chen looked forward to sharing her newfound knowledge with her own students — educational techniques like small group discussions, problem-based and peer-assisted learning, and an increased emphasis on competency-based learning concepts.
The CSC Faculty Medical Education Trainee program, organized by close collaborations between faculty members in the College of Medicine and College of Public Health, is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). Since 2006, 160 students from China have come to UNMC for study or training, as part of the partnership between the CSC and UNMC.
Congratulations to all the graduates!