Introduction

Shantou University Medical College (SUMC) is a vital part of Shantou University. The last decade has seen SUMC making major accomplishments in education and research. It has been endorsed as one of China's best 100 universities for the 21st Century, known as "Project 211".

Being committed to "Elite Education" and the training of high caliber medical professionals that can meet international standards of medical education, Shantou University Medical College has been attracting top-flight students and provided the country with fine medical professionals. For 13 consecutive years, the scores of the new students we enrolled have surpassed the entry score set for national key universities, with the College being their first choice. In 2010, the employment rate of our graduates reached 99.59%, ranking first among the universities in Guangdong Province for 10 successive years. In the last 7 years, the pass rates of the graduates in the National Medical Licensure Examination have topped among all the medical colleges in the country. The College offers programme in seven-year Clinical Medicine alone and with Medical Imaging specialization, five-year Clinical Medicine and four-year Nursing. In 2010, there are 2,414 students, of which 680 are Ph.D & Master candidates and 1,734 are undergraduates (including 1,233 in the seven-year program). SUMC has five affiliated hospitals, namely The First Affiliated Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Mental Health Center, and The STU/CUHK Joint Shantou International Eye Center, and 3 associated hospitals - Southern China Hospital, Yuebei People's Hospital and Longgang Central Hospital of Shenzhen.


By taking the lead in adopting a new "systems-integrated" teaching model, implementing English Immersion Programme and following the style and content of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), SUMC has made impressive progress in recent years. In 2007, an "All English Class" for medical undergraduates whose tuition fees are waived, was started. The school plans to gradually admit and enlarge enrollment of foreign students. Shantou University Medical College also has 4 National Elite Courses, 2 National Demonstration Course of Bilingual Teaching, 1 National Teaching Team, 1 National Special Subject and 1 National Experimental Centre for Innovation of Talent Training Model. The College has won 4 second prizes of the National Education Achievement Awards. Apart from medical teaching and scientific research, SUMC is also active in serving the community. The National Hospice Program, Medical Aid for the Poor Program, Project New Life and Caring is Hip are charity programs initiated and supported by the Li Ka Shing Foundation, all aim at helping the sick and needy, and cultivating the spirit of "giving" among the community.

Shantou University Medical College offers 4 Doctorate and 2 Master Programs in first level disciplines and 8 Master Programs in second level disciplines and provides 2 post-doctoral training sites. Several subjects and laboratories have been recognized as key subject/laboratory at the provincial or national level. In 1999, the Ministry of Education approved the Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology to establish posts for the specially appointed "Cheung Kong Scholar". During the period of 2006-2010, SUMC received a total of 341 national and provincial research grants with about 500 SCI papers published. These were 1.6 and 2.3 fold increases, respectively, compared with the preceding 5-year period. Scientific research papers have been published by prestigious journals such as "Nature", "The Lancet", "Journal of Virology" and "PNAS", ranking 8th in Chinese universities that have publications in Nature and Science and reflecting the quality of research papers.

Shantou University Medical College has been active in national and international academic exchanges and scientific research collaborations, and has established intercollegiate relationships with many renowned local and overseas medical institutes, including those in the U.S.A., U.K., Canada, Japan, France, Australia, and Hong Kong, etc. Since 1999, SUMC has partnered with CETV and various overseas universities and institutions to hold 13 National Telemedicine Educational Symposia, with live broadcast via satellite and the Internet.

(Source: Shantou University)