Health Talk: American med students bridge cultures through health dialogue

Fifteen fourth-year medical students from the University of Chicago, Illinois, are visiting hospitals in China – including Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing (PUMCH) – as part of an immersive training program. Their specializations span internal medicine, otolaryngology, neurology and more. During their stay, they have gained hands-on clinical experience and engaged in exchanges with Chinese doctors.

Diseases affect everyone, regardless of where they come from, so international collaboration is crucial in the medical field, said Mario Shammas, a neurology-bound student who worked in the rare disease department at PUMCH during the program.

Shammas holds hope that the younger generation will embrace cross-cultural exchanges and observe the world with less bias. "Young people are in a unique position to be able to connect better with different cultures, especially as it relates to health," he said.

Stratton Tolmie, who is going into internal medicine next year and spent time in PUMCH's ICU department, said he is very interested in critical care. Despite being in China for only four days at the time of the interview, he said he felt he had already built "genuine friendships."

Tolmie and his Chinese colleagues have started discussing potential research collaboration. "I really anticipate keeping these friendships going, especially when I'm a practicing physician, and hopefully returning to China soon," he added.

Even amid international tensions, it is important to focus on the shared values and goals among countries, Tolmie stressed.

Naomi Tesema, who is specializing otolaryngology, said she was warmly welcomed after arriving in China and stressed the value of establishing people-to-people connections, especially with people who hold similar interests.

(Video edited by Chen Hongyu. Cover photo designed by Yu Peng.)