With its century-old tradition of being “people-oriented and patient-first”, PUMCH always keeps an eye on the latest medical development to make breakthroughs in medicine and apply up-to-date technologies for the good of people. Over the past century, the hospital has adhered to adopting a global perspective in its development. In 2017, it officially wrote into its charter the development goal of building a “world-class hospital with Chinese characteristics”. In 2018, it proposed a framework on the construction of six major systems which include an “Open and Collaborative System”. Thanks to its establishment of the National Center for International Exchange and Cooperation in 2021, PUMCH has become a crucial player in the global medical system, which facilitates its high-quality development through multi-channel, high-level and substantive international cooperation and exchanges.

At the centennial anniversary of PUMCH, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an article in praise of PUMCH for its outstanding contributions to the medical development worldwide, which also confirmed its pivotal role in the diagnosis and treatment of difficult, complicated, and rare diseases as well as in the improvement of people’s life and health. Dozens of medical, health and scientific research institutions and its partners from countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore sent their blessings to the hospital, expressing their best wishes for the 100th anniversary of PUMCH. Wendy O’Neill Wang, Chair of China Medical Board, and Dr. Paul Rothman, CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, delivered a video speech at the centennial anniversary held on September 16. Representatives from four international institutions, Mayo Clinic, SingHealth, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and the University of Chicago, delivered a keynote speech at the Hospital Leaders’ Forum of High-Quality Development, which top-level Chinese hospitals can draw upon to further develop themselves with Chinese characteristics in an era featuring international cooperation and competition.

PUMCH has built up a high-quality international cooperation and exchange platform. Specifically speaking, it has established strategic partnerships with renowned institutions such as the University of Chicago, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the University of Tokyo Hospital, China Medical Board, which facilitate its all-round development in medical education and research via various pragmatic and efficient academic exchange activities. Meanwhile, the hospital has been active in carrying out international talent exchange projects which aim to cultivate scientists with a global and strategic perspective. For instance, in the past decade, the “Hundred Talents Program” for the young and middle-aged, established in 2009, has funded 468 backbone personnel from 61 departments to visit top-ranking hospitals in 20 countries and regions for further study and academic exchange. 570 personnel have benefited from the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) online course the hospital introduced in 2013. And nearly 100 professional mentors have been trained through UCSF Mentor Training Program (MTP) and the University of Chicago International Medical Educators Program (IMEP) launched in 2018. In 2019, an overseas rotational training program was put in place, for which middle-level cadres in clinical departments and administrative departments were selected to learn from advanced management experience in institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, and the University of Chicago. PUMCH attaches equal importance to building capabilities for international exchange and self-development. Based on its international collaboration think tank, it has further developed a talent team dedicated to overseas exchanges. The hospital has put in place a mechanism of designating department and office liaison personnel for the international collaboration think tank and mapped out a comprehensive and collaborative management network of international affairs covering all departments. To build up the global profile of the hospital, a wide variety of international cooperation and exchange activities have been carried out by departments and offices. In doing so, PUMCH has successfully established partnerships, friendships, and mutual trust with their counterparts abroad in the new era. Its Department of Ophthalmology has been selected as the national medical team “Brightness Action” for 6 times and performed nearly 1,700 cataract surgeries for patients in countries alongside the “Belt and Road” such as Ethiopia and Mauritania. Since 2019, its Department of Radiology has been responsible for the national medical imaging training course under the “Belt and Road” initiative and training North Korean medical personnel on the use of medical diagnostic devices and technology. As a result, over 80 medical personnel from 13 countries have come to study in PUMCH for several times. Through such cooperation for better discipline performance, the hospital contributes to the high-quality medical development worldwide. In 2016, the Department of Nephrology at PUMCH was acknowledged by the International Society of Nephrology (ISN) as the “Sister Renal Centers” together with the Division of Nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. The following year, it took on the position of the Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), a globally recognized journal of nephrology. In the past decade, the Department of Nursing at PUMCH has send out more than 100 excellent nurses from to further their study abroad, and the hospital itself meanwhile has received more than one thousand nurses and staff from medical institutions of other countries for academic exchange. Moreover, many academic conferences organized by PUMCH including the International Forum on Digestive Diseases and Digestive Endoscopy, the International Conference on Spinal Disorders, Peking Union International Summit on Emergency Medicine, and the PUMCH-Mayo Pathology Forum have yielded great academic influence and are of international reputation.

As PUMCH implements the practice of “sending staff abroad” and “welcoming scholars home” at the same time, more and more scholars around the world have come to the hospital for further study. After joining the Residency Exchange Program with the University of Chicago, PUMCH has received 20 residents and post-graduates from the University of Chicago Medicine since 2014. On the other hand, select staff from the PUMCH Department of Otolaryngology, after completing Fisch’s technical training on the surgery of temporal bone and skull base in Switzerland, has transformed the original Otolaryngology Laboratory into one functional for minimally invasive surgery of otorhinolaryngology. Since 2012, 17 related training courses and visiting physician programs have been carried out, among which 4 are international seminars. The Department of Anesthesiology has warmly welcomed international scholars, and dozens of scholars from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and George Washington University (the United States), Estonia and Myanmar have come to the hospital for study.

Against the background of full implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and the comprehensive promotion of the strategy of healthy China, PUMCH will stick to its internationalized development strategy and embrace the world with a more open mindset to make further contributions to building a shared community for human health and well-being.

Text: Fu Tanping and the International Cooperation Office

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Wang Yao