"Ottawa - Shanghai Joint School of Medicine" transplant North American general practitioner training mode

October 17, on the occasion of the first anniversary of "Ottawa - Shanghai Joint School of Medicine", the supporting international family medicine clinic for teaching was inaugurated at Eastern Division of Renji Hospital. This clinic is China's first international family medicine clinic established through the introduction of Canadian family physicians training mode by "Ottawa - Shanghai Joint School of Medicine". It has not only the complete teaching functions of probation teaching and clinical practice for undergraduate, but also the teachers of general practitioners (family physicians) as well as training capabilities of continuing education. It will provide a demonstrative diagnosis and treatment model for the grading diagnosis and treatment system based on family physicians, which is being promoted in our country.

Canadian Consul in Shanghai David Dunkerley, president of University of Ottawa Allan Rock, president of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ottawa Jacques Bradwejn, president of Jiao Tong University Jie Zhang, party secretary of Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Dalin Sun, party secretary of Shanghai Shen Kang Hospital Development Center Weixing Zhao, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning Zeping Xiao, vice president of Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Hongzhuan Chen, president of Renji Hospital Weiping Li, party secretary of Renji Hospital Lian Guo, and other leaders attended the inauguration ceremony of the clinic, and witnessed unveiling of the international family clinic. Vice president of our hospital, Daxiang Wen presided over the ceremony. President of the Faculty of Medicine of University of Ottawa, Jacques Bradwejn delivered speech on the inauguration of the clinic. He said that this will lay the foundation for promoting complete transplantation of the North American general practitioner training mode and being certificated by the North America Liaison Committee (LCME) of Medical Education in the Ottawa - Shanghai Joint School of Medicine.

The implementation of the grading diagnosis and treatment system based on the first treatment of family physicians is an internationally accepted mode, which is already very mature in North America and Europe. "Ottawa - Shanghai Joint School of Medicine" international family medicine clinic aims to introduce this advanced teaching philosophy in North America and refer to the teaching mode of the Faculty of Medicine of University of Ottawa. It introduces foreign professors and general practitioner teachers of Renji Hospital and adopts initiatives, such as giving lessons together, teaching in clinics, implementing curriculums, to ensure that the medical students can learn authentic Canadian family medicine education and clinical practice during the practice stage. So the students will be able to contact family medicine earlier in their medical school. Furthermore, this will culture the students’ interests in primary care by rotation practice in family medicine outpatient, and encourage more outstanding students to enter the general practitioner culture system after graduation and serve in the national primary health care business in future. At the same time this platform will also create opportunities to attend the Canadian residency training of family physicians, which will train future teachers and promote the exchange and development of clinical medical education of both parties. It will particularly develop high standards of international general medical training programs which will play a crucial role in the promotion of general medicine (family physicians) in Shanghai and all over the country.

It is reported that the grading diagnosis and treatment system is comparatively perfect in Canada, and its core is the establishment of family physician system. In Canada, the recognition of family physicians is very high, which covers 85% of primary health care of citizens. Approximately 51% of Canadian doctors are family physicians, each year about 55 percent of medical school graduates choose to be family physicians. Such a high proportion correlates with the achievements as family physicians and the thorough culture system of family physicians. Canadian family physicians do not just serve personals, but more serve for the whole families. Good doctor-patient relationship promotes mutual trust and respect, and the trust relies on the recognition of the medical levels of the family physicians. Family physician training in Canada is "4 + 2" mode, that is four years in medical schools to obtain medical doctoral degree and then subjected to at least two years of residency standardized training curriculum through teaching mode of Triple C Competency-based Curriculum, including Comprehensive Education and Patient Care, Continuity of Education and Patient Care and Centered in Family Medicine, and then becoming a qualified family physician after certification of Academy of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC).

In order to fully ensure the consistent teaching and clinical practice patterns between Joint School of Medicine and the Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine, Renji Hospital construct the international family medicine clinic, which is consistent with Canadian teaching hospital levels. It is equipped with complete features for trainee, internship teaching and subsequent family physician residency training of the students, including four standard consulting rooms, two large consulting rooms with treatment functions, the video surveillance and teaching system as well as meeting rooms. At the same time, to reflect and to promote the concept of family physicians of Canada, the clinic is also constructed with supporting allied health service, including psychological counseling, nursing practitioner, diabetes counseling and social workers. ( Reporter Chao Meng Translator Weiwei Zhang)