2011-05-31

On 28 and 29 May 2011 Shantou University hosted the fifth annual conference of the East-West Alliance (EWA). The two-day international conference saw over 150 senior national and provincial education officials and academic leaders from several renowned universities gather in Shantou to exchange views on the theme "Global Medical Education: How to Run a Good Medical College in the Information Age".

Senior officers from the Chinese Ministry of Education, the National Medical Examination Center, the Guangdong Education Department, and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation, Solina Chau, and Provost of Shantou University, Gu Peihua, delivered opening addresses.

Academic participants included leaders and medical education experts from EWA member universities which include Oxford University, Cambridge University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, University of Toronto St. Michael Hospital, University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Shantou University. Several non-member universities were also represented, including University of Pittsburgh Medical School, University of Southern California, University of Melbourne, University of Groningen, Peking University, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University, Harbin Medical University, Nanjing Medical University and Sichuan University.

During the two-day conference, several presentations and discussions were held on a broad range of topics including medical college admission standards and procedures; curriculum design and content; teaching and examination methods; clinical skills training; ethical and psychological education; postgraduate education and scientific research; residency training and continuing education; and administrative and financial management of medical colleges.

The East-West Alliance is an international alliance consisting of several medical colleges and research institutions supported by the Li Ka Shing Foundation. The member universities and institutions of EWA worldwide take turns hosting the annual meeting. Previous meeting were hosted by the University of Hong Kong, Cambridge University, Stanford University, and University of Manitoba.

Click here for more information about the East-West Alliance 2011 annual conference.