Recently HUANG Hefeng, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences ,Dean of the upcoming International School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, attended a planning meeting in Yiwu, Zhejiang, where she stated that China has both the ability and responsibility to contribute to the development of medicine globally.

Dr. Huang delivered a speech at the meeting. In her speech, she mentioned that disciplines around the world are constantly changing. With the advancing of time, there are some disciplines that have disappeared and some new disciplines which have emerged, especially on the evolution of life sciences. We are now focused on both the digitalization of life sciences anddigitalized life sciences, which are on the spotlight of innovation in the world. Therefore, the approval of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China to establish a medical school in a city like Yiwu with many international contacts is of great significance.

The initial idea of building the medical school was proposed because of the successful operation of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine (ZJU4H), which was jointly built by Zhejiang University and the Yiwu Municipal Government in 2009. In 2019, one decade after its birth, the hospital decided to establish the International School of Medicine of Zhejiang University (ZJU-ISM) and the International Institutes of Health of Zhejiang University (ZJU-IIH), with the generous support of the University and the city of Yiwu. The three institutes are integrated to form an international hub for health, providing first-class care, educating future medical professionals and advancing research and translation for human health and well-being.

The International School of Medicine broke ground on its campus in Shuangjianghu Higher-Ed Park at the end of 2020. The campus will be ready for use in September 2023. The upcoming International School of Medicine will be a new model of a hospital-run medical school, offering a complete undergraduate and postgraduate medical education for both domestic and international students.

In the International Institutes of Health which just opened in December 2021, biomedical scientists and clinicians work together in five major disciplines, including reproductive medicine, regenerative and aging medicine, oncology, global health, and traditional Chinese medicine. Interdisciplinary study is encouraged to facilitate translational success from bench to bedside. Therefore, the International Hub for Health will drive the innovation and development of the whole chain of the health industry, and deepen the collaboration with other countries in medical education and research, with a view to creating a Study in China brand.

Today, China's economy is advancing by leaps and bounds. Our country has the ability and responsibility to make new contributions to the development of medicine to promote human health and well-being. Dr. Huang said, Today we must produce more research and generate more results for the health of the world.

According to Dr. Huang, the construction of the International Hub for Health is advancing rapidly, but talented people are still the key and core elements. She expressed her good wishes for the completion of the campus, which will attract more outstanding talent and yield more achievements such as new technologies, new theories, new treatments, new surgical methods and new pharmaceuticals etc.  In addition, she hopes to train students who can return to their own countries and serve the people of their own homelands with the medical knowledge they have learned in China.

Source：the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine