On the morning of October 22, 2020, the Biomedical English Program of the School held a seminar on its curriculum renewal. Experts and scholars from relevant national ministries commissions, the University, and related departments of the Health Science Center gathered together and discussed the positioning and updating of the program curriculum.

Attendees of the meeting include:

Qide Han, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, former director of the Health Science Center, chairman of the Central Committee of the September Third Society, former vice chairmanof the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress;

Jiangang Nie, deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation of the National Health Commission;

Xulong Chen, professor at the Chinese Academy of International Studies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and director of the Secretariat of the Research Center on Xi Jinping’s Diplomacy Thought;

Weimin Wang, deputy director of PKU Health Science Center (PKUHSC); Qiudan Sun, director of the International Cooperation Office, PKUHSC;

Hong Liu, director of Education Office, PKUHSC;

Qingyue Meng, dean of Peking University (PKU) School of Public Health and executive director of PKU China Center for Health Development Studies;

Haibin Zhang, associate dean of PKU School of International Relations;

Yun Wang, associate dean of PKU School of Basic Medical Sciences,

Xiaoyun Liu, deputy director of PKU China Center for Health Development Studies;

Hao Wang, director of the Department of Asian and African Studies in School of Foreign Languages and of the Mongolian Studies Center of PKU, and the director of Mongolian Studies Center in the National Regional Studies Center of the Ministry of Education;

Hua Huang, deputy director of the Education Department of PKU Shougang Hospital;

Ana Xie, deputy director of the Education Office of PKUHSC;

Jingyi Cai, director of the Faculty & Teaching Development Center of PKUHSC;

Liping Guo, associate dean of PKU School of Health Humanities;

Xinliang Yu, associate Party secretary of the PKU School of Health Humanities;

core faculty members and administrative staff of the School;

and seven representatives of outstanding Biomedical English graduates.

The meeting was chaired by Professor Cheng Zhou, dean of PKU School of Health Humanities.

Professor Zhou gave a welcome speech to all the experts, briefly introduced the current situation of the Program, as well as its uniqueness in PKUHSC and the School, and pointed out the necessity and urgency of updating of the Program curriculum.

Professor Liping Guo gave a detailed report on the program, depicted the background for updating, and proposed the new positioning and reform plan. She pointed out that under the new international and domestic situations and based on the concept of “new liberal arts and new medicine” proposed by the Ministry of Education, it is imperative to revise the Program curriculum to cultivate “multi/interdisciplinary and international talents that have extensive medical knowledge and solid English-Chinese language skills, good knowledge of the language, technology/skills and cultural component involved in health care and become key players in the nation’s health diplomatic strategy, cross-cultural medical exchanges, and in-depth studies in health humanities, clinical linguistics, global health, and other key fields.

Based on the spirit of the University motto—Keeping Pace with The Times, Sticking to The Right Path While Making Innovations, the proposed new curriculum  intends to build three English-taught elective course modules of “language in medicine”, “health humanities” and “health diplomacy” while consolidating foundational knowledge of medicine and English, so as to provide diversified development options.

The “health diplomacy” module is a brand new component and the core topic of this seminar. The outbreak of the COVID-19 has highlighted the importance and urgency of cultivating health diplomas. Therefore, experts are invited to discuss issues including the current situation and needs of China’s health diplomatic talents, the knowledge and capabilities required of health diplomatic talents, and new course building and course sharing intramurally for the health diplomacy module.

During the conference, Academician Qide Han first proposed that the revision of the curriculum should be based on a clear goal, that is, to cultivate "talents with solid foundation and broad caliber " who have certain medical knowledge and a mastery of the English language. He also insisted Biomedical English curriculum should have two main focuses: English and medicine. Students can learn other professional knowledge through double major programs or the "4+2" undergraduate and master programs.

Next, deputy director Jiangang Nie advocated that university talent training should be demand-oriented. He believed that our country currently lacks the following five types of talents in global health promotion : 1) health diplomatic talents; 2) international affairs personnel and medical experts 3) Health care talents for foreign aid, especially those with good foreign language skills; 4) Public health system policy consultants; 5) Think-tank talents. In the future, all students of medical schools should pay attention to the improvement of the following four aspects: 1) Health care technology or medical professional ability; 2) foreign language ability; 3) diplomatic knowledge; 4) understanding of international rules. In terms of the advice on curriculum modification, Director Nie suggested incorporating an introductory course on the theory and practice of traditional Chinese medicine into the current curriculum.

 Xulong Chen said that health diplomacy was a highlight during the COVID-19 pandemic and made positive contributions to our country’s diplomacy. He also recommended that our school organize some academic activities such as the "Forum on Community of Common Health for Mankind" and "China One Belt One Road Health Cooperation Research Forum".

Haibin Zhang emphasized in his speech the necessity of cultivating interdisciplinary and international affairs talents. He believed that undergraduate education should develop "broad-caliber" and master programs should focus on specialized studies; in addition, high-quality resources should be shared between PKU headquarters and the Health Science Center, so that students can expand their knowledge through double-degree, minor course or MOOC, etc. He also emphasized the importance of training students through simulated international conferences.       

Qingyue Meng first expressed his appreciation of the Biomedical English major’s role in training internationalized talents for China’s healthcare, and put forward that  China Center for Health Development Studies of PKU could offer courses, namely, a theoretical course "Introduction to Public Health", a methodology course " Methods of Health Service Research " and a number of other elective courses related to global health, health security and development, hospital management, etc. for Biomedical English majors. Meng suggested setting the Introduction of Public Health course as a fundamental compulsory course, while other courses about health humanities, clinics linguistics and health diplomacy as electives, so that students could choose suitable courses for their own development.

The problem about how to reform the basic clinical medical courses in Biomedical English major under the current curriculum positioning was also discussed in the seminar.

From the perspective of medical education, Deputy Director Weimin Wang suggested that the Biomedical English major should try to develop the "4+2" bachelor and master training model, carry out general education at undergraduate level and strengthen professional development at master level. Director Wang also suggested that International Health Cooperation, Research on Chinese and Foreign Health Diplomatic Policy and related courses should be opened to students of the whole school or even all the medical schools in the whole country.

Other experts and Biomedical English alumni also expressed their opinions and were fully involved in heated discussions.

In the end, Dean Cheng Zhou made a concluding speech and expressed his heartfelt thanks to the experts and alumni participating in the conference for their strong support of the development of Biomedical English major. At the same time, he asked the School of Health Humanities to further improve the curriculum based on experts’ opinions and alumni’s feedback so as to cultivate high quality and interdisciplinary "Biomedical English plus" talents that meet the current needs of the country.

This conference not only provided insight and suggestions for the revision of our school's Biomedical English professional curriculum, but also added new elements into the medical education reform of PKU Health Science's "new era". Experts expressed their expectation for the upcoming new curriculum of Biomedical English major.