On February 14th, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly announced an updated list of Double First-Class universities and disciplines, Guangzhou Medical University (GMU) was enlisted. 147 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were listed for support under the second phase of the Double First-Class Initiative. Among them, 8 HEIs are based in Guangdong Province.
I. Construction of High-Level University Lays a Solid Foundation
Guangzhou city and Guangdong province took the initiative to launch Construction of High-Level Universities Project in 2015. Since then, GMU has been supported by the provincial and the municipal government to develop into a high-level university. GMU is committed to carrying on its legacy and training excellent health professionals. It pledges to stay relevant with the cutting edge science in the world, to incorporate economic reality into medical education, to meet the urgent needs of the country and to protect the health of people. As a local university, it strives to carry out its social responsibility and contribute to regional financial and social development. We embrace a development strategy integrating basic research, clinical translation and product R&D. The strength and commitment of the people in GMU have been proved in the fight against SARS and COVID-19 and other major public health emergencies. Guided by our signature strengths, we value differentiated development. We have built up a distinctive strength in discipline and platform development. Up till now, a total of seven disciplines of GMU have entered the top 1% of ESI global rankings. 11 undergraduate programs are listed as national first- class programs, which accounts for 52.38% of the enrollment of the undergraduate students.
II. Reaching New Heights of Multidisciplinary Development with Respiratory Diseases Discipline as Driving Force
The Discipline of Clinical Medicine of GMU is led by Dr. Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It is ranked at the top 1.21‰ of ESI global rankings. It is a first-level discipline conferring doctoral degrees. It also offers a professional doctorate program and a complete full range of programs at the secondary level of clinical medicine. The team of the Discipline of Clinical Medicine received the 2020 State Scientific and Technological Progress Award's Innovation Team Award. They also won first prize once and second prize twice at the national level in the past six years.
The respiratory medicine at GMU is a leading discipline in China, which has been ranked first in the country for 12 consecutive years. It integrates a national key discipline, a national medical center, a national clinical medical research center and a state key laboratory. If respiratory medicine is a peak that we have conquered, GMU is striving to reach new heights to build a multidisciplinary plateau through discipline co-construction.
Apart from respiratory medicine, GMU also excels in other fields. Thoracic surgery has developed an internationally advanced lung cancer framework for early prevention and control. Minimally invasive surgery has been carried out at international leading level. We also take the lead in the number of lung transplant surgery and its survival rate across the nation. Allergy discipline owns the only provincial key laboratory in this field in China. Obstetrics and gynecology is a trend setter in high-risk pregnancy management. It features an assisted reproductive center with one of the highest success rates in South China. As for neurology, the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy diseases have reached the international advanced level. The research on cerebrovascular disease has reached an advanced level in China. The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University is ranked top in South China for ten consecutive years. It spearheads the effort to apply for the National Psychiatric Regional Medical Center (Central South area). As for Urology, we are the forerunners to carry out minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of urinary calculi in China. We take the lead to develop mini-pereutaneous nephrolithotomy (Mini-PCNL) in the world. As for pediatrics, we are taking the lead in prevention and control strategies for major childhood diseases home and abroad. Oncology pioneers in precise hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, reaching the international leading level.
III. Building Double First-class Discipline on Our Distinctive Strength—Starting from Prevention and Control of Respiratory Diseases and Major Public Health Emergencies.
Our overall blueprint for double first-class discipline building will insist on the following strategic roadmap: Prioritizing medical sciences, improving disciplines related with medical sciences, promoting interdisciplinary integration between medicine and engineering, medicine and sciences as well as medicine and humanities. We will regroup the disciplines and coordinate their development so as to build a discipline development scheme with balanced structure, priorities and distinctive characteristics. We shall promote the overall level of the discipline of clinical medicine through first-class discipline building, forming a layout spearheaded by first-class discipline with multiple disciplines supporting each other synergistically. As a result, talent training quality will be improved constantly, and the comprehensive competitiveness of the university will be strengthened.
As we have the distinctive strength in the area of respiratory diseases, which is related to many other subjects, we will leverage our advantage and start first-class discipline building with prevention and control of respiratory diseases and major public health emergencies. We have set short-term, middle-term and long-term goals. Goal of the first phase: By 2025, clinical medicine will manage to enter the top 1 ‰ of ESI global ranking, and its overall strength will be ranked at top 10% in China. GMU’s comprehensive strength will reach an advanced level of independent medical colleges and universities in China.
Goal of the second phase: By 2035, clinical medicine will arrive at first-class level in China, GMU’s comprehensive strength will become one of the top independent medical colleges and universities in China.
Goal of the third phase: By 2050, the discipline of clinical medicine will be reaching at world-class level, GMU will be ranked in the world-famous universities and among the first-class universities in China.