On July 11^th, Ms. Christine Hogan, Deputy Minister of International Trade of Canada, Mr. Weldon Epp, Canadian Consul General in Shanghai visited Renji Hospital and Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine accompanied by Dr. HU Yiqun, Vice-Chancellor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Dr. Jacques Bradwejn, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa. President LI Weiping, Party Secretary GUO Lian, Vice-President WEN Daxiang of Renji Hospital and Dr. SHAO Li, Executive Dean of Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine (OSJSM) welcomed the guests.

To start with, Vice-Chancellor HU Yiqun delivered a welcome speech to Ms. Hogan and expressed great gratitude for her interest and support for the OSJSM program. He mentioned that the Sino-Canadian cooperation has a long history and solid foundation and that the two sides have achieved distinguishable fruits in many fields such as trade, investment, technology, energy and education. The cooperation between Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine can trace back to the first meeting between the two sides in 2011. Followed by great support from the two governments and deeper communication between the two medical schools, in 2014 Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine was established. It is the first joint undergraduate medical education program that was approved by the Ministry of Education. To ensure OSJSM can have the same clinical teaching and practice model as UO Faculty of Medicine, Renji Hospital established an International Family Medicine Clinic which is up to the standards of Canadian teaching hospitals. Family Medicine is the future direction of our country’s medical education and health care development. The International Clinic is a measure taken in response to the Family Medicine system and policy of China. We hope to promote a model clinic, and at the same time, to provide an international medical teaching environment.

Then, Vice-President WEN Daxiang made a presentation to introduce Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Renji Hospital. Dean Jacques Bradwejn briefed on the background, progresses and visions for the OSJSM program, and the Faculty’s cooperation with West China and other partners. Ms. Hogan thinks highly of the achievements of OSJSM. She said education and culture is the foundation for economic cooperation. She is glad to see that Canada and China have made such a close partnership in medical education. Then she asked about the student source, educational goals of OSJSM, and the current situation of family medicine in China. She also listened to the wishes for support on the government level from OSJSM, such as dual degree and accreditation, etc.

At last but not least, President LI Weiping and Party Secretary of Renji Hospital accompanied the guests to have a tour of OSJSM and the International Family Medicine Clinic.