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NSYSU College of Medicine officially inaugurated, cultivating cross-disciplinary doctors in southern Taiwan

2022-10-17

National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU) held the unveiling ceremony of the College of Medicine and signing ceremony of Community Medical Alliance on September 29. Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te, National Policy Advisor to the President Chun-Sheng Lai, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission Chu Chen and Legislator Shyh-Fang Liu attended the grand event. NSYSU President Ying-Yao Cheng emphasized that the NSYSU College of Medicine adopts the clinical practice model of Harvard Medical School in the United States. In addition to forming alliances with 4 medical centers - Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Tainan Chi Mei Medical Center and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital as teaching hospitals, the NSYSU College of Medicine is also cooperating with Cishan Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Penghu Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and other medical institutions in Hualien, Taitung, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Penghu, to form a community medical alliance, and is committed to “cultivating cross-disciplinary doctors in southern Taiwan” and becoming the "strongest guardian of health equity".

Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te pointed out that he has high expectations and full confidence in the establishment of NSYSU College of Medicine. Through medical professional education, it is very important to cultivate an optimistic and positive attitude among medical students, and also to inspire their love and responsibility. It is also very crucial to nurture the spirit of medical service that treats the patient like a family and takes people’s health as their duty. It is expected that the NSYSU College of Medicine will achieve the important goals of talent cultivation, medical balance between northern and southern Taiwan, and medical equality. He said that in addition to professional education, medical students also need to be nurtured in humanities, history, and even sports and technology, so that they have mature personalities and can face challenges well. Besides, people-oriented education is also very important. The medical education of doctors must be patient-oriented. In this way, doctors are not medical craftsmen who only look at data, not only provide medical examinations and other treatment methods, but take patients as a whole, regardless of race, status, or class, to provide patients with the best medical care.

Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission Chu Chen said that for a long time, the shortage of medical manpower in Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Penghu reflects the imbalance of medical resources in the northern and southern Taiwan, especially the lack of medical resources in remote areas, which is a problem that needs to be improved and solved urgently. To this end, under the leadership of President Ying-Yao Cheng, NSYSU has been actively preparing for the establishment of the College of Medicine, combining with the existing research capabilities of NSYSU's departments such as materials and optoelectronic science, computer science and engineering, electrical engineering. The purpose is not only to improve and shorten the differences in medical resources between the northern and southern Taiwan, but also to expand the medical field and cultivate cross-disciplinary medical talents that are different from traditional medical schools. Chu Chen said that several legislators from Kaohsiung City also worked together with NSYSU to achieve the purpose. Of course, there was support and encouragement from the medical community in southern Taiwan, eastern Taiwan, and even the outlying island Penghu, as well as sages from all walks of life. Although the establishment of NSYSU College of Medicine has gone through many twists and turns, it was finally achieved with the concerted cooperation of everyone.

"The establishment of NSYSU College of Medicine symbolizes a big step forward in balancing the training resources of doctors in southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Taitung, and Penghu!" Legislator Shyh-Fang Liu said that the future medical school and medical development need to integrate medicine technology, and medical students have a particularly great responsibility. Especially in terms of public health, including the extension of medical resources and teaching quality in remote areas, mountains and seaside, in line with the national health and welfare medical policy, and through NSYSU to cultivate cross-disciplinary doctors to ensure the rights and interests of grassroots people's health protection and vulnerable groups' health services.

The NSYSU School of Medicine is committed to "Distance is no longer a barrier to health in remote areas". In order to declare the concept of medical equity service, the "NSYSU Dr. Maxwell Medical Service Group" was established on September 29. Taiwan Vice President Lai presented the flag to NSYSU President Ying-Yao Cheng, the first dean of the College of Medicine Ming-Lung Yu, and the Chair of the School of Medicine Yen-Hsu Chen received the flag, and jointly carried out the unveiling ceremony of the painting "The Way of Dr. Maxwell", the symbolic image of the medical service group of the College of Medicine. This painting was created by modern Taiwanese artist, professor Ken-shen Hung, and was gifted by Wen-ho Tsai, Chairman of Senao Networks - Enterprise Wireless, Jung-ming Yang, Director of Jung-ming Internal Medicine Clinic, and Huei-yu Chen, Chairman of the Life Insurance Association of the Republic of China. NSYSU also officially announced that in the future it will be based on the history of The Way of Dr. Maxwell, with Kaohsiung as the origin and humanistic spirit of Western medicine in Taiwan, and will give brand new life and meaning to the sustainable development of medical education.

The NSYSU School of Medicine was officially approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare for 23 state financed students in March 2022, and the enrollment quota was full. On August 1st 2022, the NSYSU College of Medicine was established, becoming the first national university in Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Penghu to have a medical college and cultivate government-sponsored medical doctors. In addition to the newly established NSYSU School of Medicine, including the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, the Institute of Medical Science and Technology, the Institute of BioPharmaceutical Sciences, the Institute of Precision Medicine and the Doctoral Program of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, which were originally affiliated to the College of Science, have all been adjusted to the newly established College of Medicine.


[Appendix]

Memorial painting of the NSYSU College of Medicine – The Way of Dr. Maxwell

This masterpiece references the historical heritage, clothing, Takow Chinese Hospital, and the David Manson Memorial Hospital. The theme of the artwork comprises the objectives of the NSYSU College of Medicine, covering the boundless possibilities towards medical humanities, remote medical care, and health equity.

The composition of the artwork is complex and precise, with vivid elements and a carefully designed layout. The artwork depicts Dr. James Laidlaw Maxwell and his assistant diagnosing and tending to patients. The Taiwanese Plains Indigenous individual listens with his hand close to his heart; other Taiwanese Han Chinese people stand around them listening closely or putting hands together to worship. The draping curtain resembles the cross. The artwork also portrays various symbols, including the Western sailboats mooring, lilies for purity, and white doves for peace and the vision to soar. The Cihou mountain and the Takao Chinese Hospital connected to the sea and the sky in the background reveals the bright prospect of medical education.

With Kaohsiung as the origin of Taiwan’s western medical education, NSYSU will follow the way of Dr. Maxwell, continue the kind acts of the pioneers, resume the journey towards medical equity, and start a new page in Taiwan’s medical history.
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