SUMC is highly active in international academic exchanges and scientific research collaborations. We have established intercollegiate relationships with many renowned overseas medical institutions, including those in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. Additionally, we have established long-term cooperative ties with the World Health Organization in the field of infectious diseases.

Attractive student exchange programs have been set up with Stanford University, University of California - San Francisco, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Toronto, University of Oxford, University of Groningen, Hyogo College of Medicine, University of Western Australia, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Top medical students at SUMC are selected every year to participate in study-abroad programs for educational and scientific research trainings, and international students come to SUMC throughout the year to participate in our flexible, short-term programs.

SUMC is one of the founding members of the East-West Alliance (EWA), a prestigious international network of Asian and Western medical research institutions and faculties created in 2006, with the aim of fostering exchange and collaboration among the medical institutions, leading to high impact medical education and research projects.

At present, members of the Alliance include Shantou University Medical College/ Shantou University, Stanford University, St. Michael’s Hospital/ University of Toronto, University of Alberta, University of California - Berkeley, University of California – San Francisco, University of Cambridge, University of Hong Kong, University of Manitoba, University of Oxford, University Medical Center Groningen/ University of Groningen, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Melbourne, and University of Michigan.

The East-West Alliance convenes annually at one of the member institutions to address significant scientific issues. Previous scientific meetings of the Alliance were hosted by The University of Hong Kong, University of Cambridge, Stanford University and University of Manitoba in 2007-2010. SUMC acted as the host of the 5th, 6th and 7th annual meetings in 2011-2013. The 8th meeting was hosted by The University of Hong Kong in 2014, and the 9th meeting was hosted by University Medical Center Groningen in 2015. The 12th meeting was hosted by SUMC with the theme of "What makes an impactful institution?” in 2018.

SUMC has well-established partnerships with the EWA members whereby joint programs in medical education, exchange of students and faculties, scientific research and healthcare services have been set up aiming to improve the quality of education, research and healthcare services at SUMC.

2013 East-West Alliance Conference

2014 East-West Alliance Global Symposia

2015 East-West Alliance Global Symposia

2018 East-West Alliance Global Symposia

We regularly organize national telemedicine symposiums with our overseas partners. Since 1999, these symposiums have been held annually with universities including among others Stanford University, Yale University, John Hopkins University, University of Cambridge, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, University of Toronto, The National Institutes of Health (USA), University of Oxford. The symposiums were broadcasted live by China Education TV and made available through the internet. Please visit the following websites for details of the previous National Telemedicine Symposiums.
18^th National Telemedicine Symposium
19^th National Telemedicine Symposium
20^th National Telemedicine Symposium
21^th National Telemedicine Symposium
22^th National Telemedicine Symposium