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Officials from Taipei Medical University, Tufts Medical Center
and Tufts University exchange ideas on health care,
sign memorandum of understanding to promote health
BOSTON (May 14, 2009) -- Physicians and administrators from Taipei Medical University (TMU), TMU Hospital and Wan Fang Hospital and their counterparts at Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine held a day-long event today to discuss the latest developments in health care and medical education in Taiwan and the United States. Executives from TMU, Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University signed a memorandum of understanding agreeing to work together to promote the health of the local and international Chinese community.
“It was an honor to host our guests from Taiwan and to learn directly from them about their health care system,” said Ellen Zane, President and CEO of Tufts Medical Center. “We were also pleased to share information about how we deliver care here at Tufts Medical Center. At a time of unprecedented change in health care in Massachusetts and the nation, exchanging ideas with physicians and administrators from another country’s health system can only help us broaden our ability to think creatively to solve our own health care challenges.”
A highlight of the day was a luncheon sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office at China Pearl Dim Sum and Restaurant that included the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Zane, TUSM Vice Dean Harris Berman, MD, and Dr. Wen-Ta Chiu, President of TMU.
The day’s events also included a tour of Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, a look at the Medical Center’s cardiac transplant program, discussion of TUSM’s new medical education curriculum, an overview of the medical-decision making service at Tufts Medical Center, and presentations from the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care and the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority.
Olivia Ho Cheng, Tufts Medical Center Trustee and President and CEO of Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc., facilitated the new relationship between the Taiwanese and U.S. institutions. “I am deeply honored to sit on the Board of Trustees of Tufts Medical Center. Those feelings are matched by my love of my home country – Taiwan, whose valuable experience in universal healthcare may provide vital insight to the United States. Building a bridge between Taipei Medical University and Tufts University School of Medicine is a natural fit, and I’m confident this relationship will benefit many people beyond these organizations,” she said.
“As educators of the next generation of physicians, we know how important it is to share information across institutions and cultures,” Berman said. “We enjoyed the opportunity to share with our visitors how we developed a new curriculum for our medical students, and it was enlightening to learn more about Taiwan’s health system.”
“We are truly honored that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston has an opportunity to be a part of this exciting signing of a Memorandum of Understanding among Taipei Medical University, Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center. Through our cooperation, I hope that we will see a joint effort that promotes medical education, research and health care,” said Kuo-Tung Yang, Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston.
“Located as we are in Boston’s Chinatown, it is valuable for us to hear about how care is being delivered in Taiwan and other Asian communities,” said David Fairchild, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Tufts Medical Center and an organizer of the event. “We believe that exchanges such as this one are valuable not only to us but to our patients.”
About Tufts Medical Center
Tufts Medical Center is an exceptional, not-for-profit, 451-bed academic medical center that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and Floating Hospital for Children. Conveniently located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. Floating Hospital for Children is the full-service children's hospital of Tufts Medical Center and the principal pediatric teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. For more information, please visit www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org.
About Tufts University School of Medicine
Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University are international leaders in innovative medical education and advanced research. The School of Medicine and the Sackler School are renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, special combined degree programs in business, health management, public health, bioengineering and international relations, as well as basic and clinical research at the cellular and molecular level. Ranked among the top in the nation, the School of Medicine is affiliated with six major teaching hospitals and more than 30 health care facilities. The Sackler School undertakes research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its impact on the advancement of medical science.
Media Contact:
Julie Jette
(617) 636-3265
jjette@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
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