Peking Union Medical College

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peking Union Medical College, Tsinghua University (北京协和医学院，清华大学医学部) [1] is among the most selective medical colleges in the People's Republic of China and is renowned both in its own right and for being connected to two of China's most vaunted institutions of higher learning. It formerly operated independently under the name Peking Union Medical College.

1 History
2 Current Status
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

The Peking Union Medical College was founded in 1906. The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the London Missionary Society, and later, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and the Medical Missionary Association of London, together with the then-Chinese government cooperated in the foundation and development of the Medical College and maintained it until 1915. The Rockefeller Foundation was established in 1913 and in 1913-1914 the newly formed Foundation created a Commission to examine medical education in China. One of its recommendations was that the Foundation - through a subsidiary organization - should assume financial responsibility for the College. On July 1, 1915 the recently established China Medical Board assumed full support of the Union Medical College, having previously acquired the property. The Commission's members had included both William Welch, the first Dean of the Johns Hopkins Medical School and Simon Flexner and the China Medical Board modeled the school after Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine following the recommendations of the Flexner Report which set the foundation of modern Medical Education in the United States and Canada. The PUMC was reorganized in 1917 and celebrated its 90th anniversary with a ceremony attended by the President of Johns Hopkins University, the Chair of the China Medical Board and representatives of the Rockefeller family and Rockefeller Brothers Fund. During the "Cultural Revolution" Peking Union Medical College was re-named "Capital University of Medical Sciences", but in 1979, it was renamed to Peking Union Medical College.

[edit] Current Status

Enrollment of the medical school is based on individual's performance in high school and the score of National Exam at the graduation. The curriculum is 8 years, including 3 years of pre-medical education in the department of biology at Peking University (moved to the department of biology at Tsinghua University in 2003). The college also has its independent Graduate School which recruits from other medical schools around country. The health care services at Peking Union Medical College Hospital is widely believed in China as among the most technically advanced. Many prominent political and social leaders in China have sought medical treatment at the PUMC Hospital.

Peking Union Medical College has provided generations of leaders for academic modern medicine and related areas in China.