Before becoming president of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, I spent eight years overseeing JHI’s educational infrastructure planning and medical training efforts with affiliates, particularly in Asia.
My work with JHI has taken me to China at least 15 times, including many visits to Chinese universities and teaching hospitals. Last summer, I traveled to Beijing with my colleague Dr. Erin Michos, a cardiologist with Johns Hopkins’ Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, and we participated in a livestream event with Global Science, the Chinese edition of Scientific American.
JHI has begun collaborating with Global Science to help share vital health research with audiences across China. In fact, Global Science launched a page called Medical Frontiers from Johns Hopkins, which highlights our press releases and research papers translated into Chinese.
During our one-hour video livestream from Beijing, editors from Global Science asked Erin and me questions of interest to their readers and followers. We discussed a wide range of topics including, what it’s like to be a researcher at Johns Hopkins, life balance, women in science (Erin fielded that question) and how to apply to graduate and medical school in the U.S. (I jumped on answering this one).
The live event had more than 1,700 viewers, and you can watch it here.
Our audience was mainly Chinese college students and researchers in science. Over the years and the course of my trips to China, I’ve become quite familiar with the education and training system in the country. China has a long history of respecting and promoting education— it was fun interacting with so many students in that distinctive format. I also strongly believe international collaborations enhance the experience of students and scientists around the world.
It was my pleasure to share what I’ve learned in three decades as a clinician and educator with the young men and women who’ll be shaping the future of health care in China and elsewhere around the world—perhaps even at Hopkins.