Abstract
Background: An important component of global engagement in health professions education is facilitating students having international experiences. Although cross-border visits have existed at some of China’s academic medical centers (AMCs) for more than 30 years, there are few quantitative studies on its overall development and variations between different types of AMCs.
Aims: We aim to provide an overall description and measure trends of global engagement of Chinese health professions education programs by comparing inbound and outbound visits of health professions students over a five year interval.
Methods: In 2019, Chinese AMCs whose undergraduate medical education programs were eligible for accreditation by the Ministry of Education were invited to complete a web-based questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive analyses, t tests, and Fisher exact tests.
Results: A total of 93 AMCs (57.8%) responded to the survey. The number of outbound visits increased by more than three times and the number of inbound visits increased by almost two times between the 2013-14 and 2018-19 academic years. Both the mean and median of outbound visits in 2018-19 academic year were higher than those in 2013-14 academic year (mean 23 vs. 72, p=0.0016; median 4 vs. 22, p=0.000). The mean of inbound visits in 2018-19 academic year was also higher than that in 2013-14 academic year (37 vs. 20, p=0.032). The mean and median of outbound and inbound visits for central government affiliated AMCs were significantly higher than those for other AMCs in these two academic years.
Conclusion: Comparison between 2013 and 2018 demonstrated an increased frequency of inbound and outbound visits, indicating a significant expansion of global engagement at China’s AMCs. Measures may be needed to incentivize global engagement at AMCs that are not affiliated with the central government. Trends in the exchanges of students may be related to historical, geographical, and political issues. The findings related to China may be useful to other low- and middle-income countries as they manage global health student exchanges.