China Medical University

[roddy]

This topic is for discussion and reviews of China Medical University. Accommodation, courses, on-campus facilities and activities - anything to do with China Medical University goes in here. If there's a lot of discussion about any one particular topic we might split it into a new thread and leave a link here.

[lakesandrivers]

Wow, first post 

 

Application Process

Applied directly to the Admission Officer of the International Education School. Google, or PM me if you want the email address.

CMU is prompt in replies. From April 19 2018 when I emailed a generic International Education School email address, to acceptance letter on May 7 2018, two-and-a-half weeks is optimal turnaround, don't you think?

 

No fees up-front. But now to secure a place USD 1,000 deposit is required by May 20 2018. Will pay via a trusted (used many times for big and small transactions) online forex company. PM me if you want names.

 

On documents, I supplied:

Most recent undergraduate biomedical degree

First undergraduate degree in IT

Financial statement (I specifically said I earned all these on my own to earn brownie points with the admission board)

(Strong) recommendation letter from a lecturer

Personal statement

Passport

 

Apply for X1 visa to enter China.

 

Course and Funding

Five-year (excluding one year internship) MBBS in English to start in September 2018. For Australians, I have checked that China Medical University exists on the authoritative Australian Medical Council https://www.amc.org.au/assessment/list-of-medical-schools and from there the medical school is linked to https://search.wdoms.org/home/SchoolDetail/F0001235 . Under "Program Details" tab, the school is shown to teach MBBS in Chinese, Japanese and English.

 

Tuition fee RMB 40,000 p.a. Will check out scholarships (especially the ones based on performance) next year.

 

Update 2019-07-17: I have transferred to Chinese-medium MBBS (Clinical Medicine). It is a four-year (excluding one year internship) program.

Arrival and registration
From here onward, basic command of Mandarin will really help. Straight-forward one-hour RMB 180 taxi ride from the airport (桃仙). Reported to Fourth Floor of the International Education School (国际教育学校). Complete your paperwork, get the checklist (Wechat, forms for physical examination and visa, ...) and head to the dormitory.

 

Accommodation

Basic accommodation with private bathroom for RMB 7,500 p.a. Basic grocery and food-court store on-campus, China Telecom available for Internet on your laptop and iPhone for RMB 29 p.m. China Mobile on-campus does not handle foreign customers. Go with China Unicom in northern China, I heard. China Construction Bank has two ATM's on-campus, making it the top choice for foreign students. 

 

Medical insurance for RMB 600 p.a. Student visa for RMB 800 p.a. Application fee for RMB 600 p.a.

 

A Third Year medical student is provided as a mentor to three newbies. He guided me on visa, Internet, Astrill, mobile phone, bus, train, bank, Taobao, Alipay and Wechat Pay, among others. Be nice to him or her. Treated him to pizza and drinks.

 

Classes, Classrooms and Teachers

Obviously, English is not the first language for teachers at CMU. But one can respect that most of them, save one, made an effort in conversing in English to English-medium students. Even so, you would be well-advised to rush ahead into mastering your Chinese because the teachers could converse most comfortably in Chinese. Also, considering that clinical (practical) exams are equally important to theoretical knowledge in (all?) Western medical licensing exams, one needs to make the most of hospital observership (usually year before internship) and internship. And that requires medical Chinese.

 

At CMU, one could skip two years of (horribly) basic Chinese classes if one could hand in a HSK 4 certificate.

[renflourish]

I'm a native post graduate student of CMU, I just reply to say hi ,and welcome~

[lakesandrivers]

On 5/11/2018 at 2:28 PM, renflourish said:

hi ,and welcome~

 

I am glad you did not launch into a tirade on CMU, as happened in the other thread. Thank you for sharing that CMU's teaching quality and resources are more than enough for you and I, even if the Uni is not the best in the whole of China. If it was enough for you, for certain it will be enough for moi.

 

Cannot afford the best in every(any)thing. That Bentley Mulsanne Speed would be eight times more expensive than my entire medical school education.

 

[lakesandrivers]

Just to update for posterity. After you have paid the USD 1,000 deposit, the school will not check it until the deadline. And if it falls on the weekend, then so be it, the admissions officer will check it on that date and then email you the receipt. But, what if it has bounced, I hear you ask? Well, according to the online forex personnel that I emailed, no news is usually good news. But you should call the admissions officer first, failing which you should call the International Exchange Center. They are next door to each other. Yes, obviously I did that.

 

From the dates on the paperwork, the Admission Notice can be issued two days after they have issued the receipt for the deposit but the JW202 will take up to a week. Hence, by a week after you got the receipt, check with the admissions officer. It took six days from Shenyang to Singapore to Brisbane via DHL. Kudos to DHL for working through the weekend.

[lakesandrivers]

Yet I cannot shake off the attractive pulling factor of AUD 0 (upfront) Australian medical education. Hence my plan is to again hit GAMSAT (Australian equivalent of the MCAT) in Singapore come end of March. I know by now that GAMSAT percentile 91 is enough only to get graduate-entry medical school interviews but not a spot in the final ~1,000 spots. I got two medical school interviews in two consecutive years of 2016 and 2017. 

 

Hence unless I ever hit percentile ~95, CMU is where I will remain.

[Flickserve]

20 hours ago, lakesandrivers said:

Yet I cannot shake off the attractive pulling factor of AUD 0 (upfront) Australian medical education. Hence my plan is to again hit GAMSAT (Australian equivalent of the MCAT) in Singapore come end of March.

 

At least you give it a good try. Then move on without regrets. 

[lakesandrivers]

Life is full of decisions. At least we know we are not the Borg. Year 1 has just passed.

 

So I decided to transfer to the Chinese-medium MBBS (Clinical Medicine) starting Year 2. The university has approved my application. I have two primary reasons for such a radical move:

1. Chinese-medium Clinical Medicine is a five-year program (4+1). At my age, a year's difference is significant. Besides, the six-year program is designed from a traditionalist's point of view. They start teaching biochemistry in Year 2 and pharmacology in Year 3, yet somehow cram the real (that define medical doctors) subjects into 1.5 years. I already aced these Years 2 and 3 subjects back in biomedical science from 2014-2016. Hence, I am now investing much time on the bread-and-butter subjects such as diagnosis, pathophysiology and internal medicine. And with this realization, I have given up on GAMSAT which would have set me back by at least 1.5 years.
2. Equally important to clinical knowledge is clinical skills. Both are two sides of the same coin. Prior to medical licensing exams (for example AMC's Clinical Examination), clinical skills can only be acquired through observership and internship in a hospital. This means local hospitals where everyone speaks Chinese. Hence, one needs to achieve a level of language mastery to reach medical Chinese. Even for medical English it is a life-long process. Hence, this second reason feeds back into Reason 1. If I am already grasping at medical Chinese, why not be courageous and move to Year 2 in Chinese-medium?

I would like to think the best plans are breathing, alive and evolve accordingly 

[abcdefg]

So, just to be sure I have understood this thread correctly, what you have done is to start out by completing year one of the clinical medical program taught in English and just now you have switched to the remainder of it taught in Chinese. Taking this track will save you one year overall. 

 

22 hours ago, lakesandrivers said:

I would like to think the best plans are breathing, alive and evolve accordingly

 

I would definitely agree with that. Sounds like a sensible plan if your language skills are up to the task. And it should be a good motivator to improve your Chinese at top speed since it will be essential sooner rather than later. 

 

As an aside, last night I watched a special on TV (Channel 2 财经频道) about the thriving and vibrant night food market in Shenyang. Xingshun Market. Over a hundred outdoor food stalls, some spontaneous music and impromptu dancing. They described how it started as being something just for locals a couple years ago, but then grew into the pride of 东北 and now has achieved national acclaim, drawing visitors from a wide area. Looked to be innovative and lively, especially during the summer months when the weather is pleasant once the sun sets. (It's a night market 夜市)。

 

Here's a link: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/travelinshenyang/2018-09/07/content_36880487.htm 

 

Best wishes in your academic pursuits. And I hope that the living is good up there in Shenyang.