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WMU’s impressive network of global partnerships spans 31 countries and more than 140 educational and research institutions worldwide. In addition to its domestic student base of more than 26,081 students (including nearly 8,727 Masters and PhD students), WMU boasts nearly 550 international students. Through this pioneering partnership, the AIWMU aims to enhance and broaden healthcare knowledge and practices in China, improve health outcomes for patients, and build opportunities for collaborative research, innovation and education.

As a research-intensive medical school with internationally renowned researchers in such areas as diabetes, obesity, virology, cardiology, cancer, transplantation, and spinal cord injury, the FoMD has much to offer WMU’s talented young students, who rank among the top 2% of all high school graduates in China.

Considerations

Unlike North American medical students, first-year students in the AIWMU can enroll in the program immediately after completing high school. Since students in the program are younger than most medical students in Canada, they are less experienced as self-directed learners and typically new to team-based learning environments. Many are living away from home for the first time and are still adapting to the newfound freedoms and responsibilities of independent living. In addition, some students are rapidly evolving in their English language fluency, which can also present challenges.

To address these considerations, instructors have adapted their teaching methods by slowing down their pace of speech during lectures, allowing students to absorb the material more easily. Additional strategies include use of visual aids, repetition and reinforcement, scaffolded learning, interactive activities, formative assessment (and feedback), and task-based learning. AIWMU has also established a parallel English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program to help support and prepare students for immersive English Medium Instruction in Phase 2.

In the AIWMU program, we focus on encouraging students to rely more on each other, share information, and function outside their typical comfort zones. The development of interpersonal, collaborative learning is an essential skill set we focus on developing.

Looking Ahead

Students who successfully complete the first four years of the program receive a Bachelor of Biomedicine degree from the º£½ÇÉçÇø. Those who complete a final, fifth year also receive a Bachelor of Clinical Medicine from WMU.

Most physicians in China must complete post-graduate programs and work in established hospitals or clinics before they can apply for their medical licensing exam. If they choose to do additional specialty training, it will require several more years of study, similar to the process in Canada.

Currently the AIWMU program boasts more than 357 students, with a doubling of class size of first-year students in fall 2025.

“A few U.S. and Canadian universities have formed joint schools with Chinese universities, but typically their approach has been to export a version of their existing educational product, so effectively it functions as a branch site,” says Dr. Tracey Hillier, MD, Director and Executive Dean of the AIWMU. “That is really a complicated and expensive approach, given all the accreditation requirements for a medical school. If you operate a branch campus, it must meet all the same standards as the main site, and in my view, that is a challenge to sustain financially. We have taken a very different approach with the dual degree program, and so far, we’re very pleased with the results.”