A visit to The University of Western Ontario from two leaders of the West China School of Medicine at Sichuan University would not have been possible if it wasn’t for former Western student Robert Kilborn’s grandfather.
West China School of Medicine’s Dr. Xuehong Wan, vice dean of education, and Dr. Tian Xia, clinical training director, chat with former University of Western Ontario student Dr. Robert Kilborn, whose grandfather, Leslie, founded the China-based hospital more than 100 years ago.
A Canadian missionary at the time, Leslie Kilborn founded the hospital back in the late 1890s by helping set up Renji and Cunren hospitals. In 1914 the School of Medicine in West China Union University was founded, with both Renji and Cunren then becoming the teaching hospitals.
A retired anesthetist from Kitchener, Robert Kilborn returned to campus to meet with West China School of Medicine’s Dr. Xuehong Wan, vice dean of education, and Dr. Tian Xia, clinical training director, who were at Western as part of a memorandum of understanding signing with the university.
“It was very much part of my family, and that was way back in the 1890s when they were thinking of starting a medical school, rather than just treating patients,” says Kilborn, noting his grandfather would be fascinated with what is going on today at the hospital. “His idea was to get the medical college and a dentistry college going and the rest of the missionaries out there supported that very strongly.”
With more than 4,300 beds, 2.5 million outpatient visits a year and 63,000 in-patient surgeries, West China Hospital is China’s largest at close 50 hectares – or more than double the size of Western’s Research Park.
The latest partnership between the two universities will allow Chinese PhD students to study at both Sichuan University and Western, graduating with dual degrees.
This builds on an already established partnership with the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, with Dr. John Denstedt, Department of Surgery chair/chief, having made several trips to China to help reform postgraduate medical education at the West China School of Medicine.
“We are here because of the friendship we have with Western and our university,” says Wan. “We really have made good progress in already establishing some projects and we are here to push that along.”
Students will benefit from being awarded a doctorate from two well recognized institutions simultaneously, gaining first-hand experience with learning two languages and cultures, and developing strong research skills and networks for fostering a productive research career.
“We are able to pick up ideas and innovations from (Western) and also we are also able to share our experiences,” adds Wan. “We highly appreciate Western because of their fill support for our clinical skills centre, and the dual degree program. With the co-operation between the two schools, top students can study at each end and get degrees, and really get full achievement out of their research and we can develop talented students.”
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry Dean Michael Strong says the sharing of ideas, and in this case students, can only lead to greater improvements to the health care of both countries.
“The most important question is what can we learn from each other,” says Strong. “We have parallel health issues that we deal with in our societies. We all have aging populations, and we’re all trying to find the appropriate level of health care to offer, beyond just the basics.”
Students will have to meet the requirements for, and be accepted into graduate programs from both universities. It’s expected that most dual degree students will complete their studies within five years of entrance, and that their time would be split equally between the two universities.