As plum flowers bloom in the snow, the end of 2013 draws near. With the excitement of harvest and hopes for the future, we are about to welcome the first sunrise of 2014. At such a joyous time where we bid farewell to the old and usher in the new, on behalf of the university party committee, I would like to extend a new year’s greeting to you all. To all faculty members and medical staff who have worked so hard over the past year, to all the students who have studied tirelessly, to retired staff members who have contributed to our school, to university alumni at home and overseas who have continuously cared for and supported the growth of our university, I offer my sincerest wishes for a happy new year!
As the saying goes, time and tide wait for no man. Yet, we have lived an unforgettable 2013. 2013 was the year where we really started to bring into effect the spirit of the government’s Eighteenth Congress and was a key, transitional year for implementing the 'The Twelfth Enactment of Five-Year Guidelines’. Moreover, it witnessed a successful third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, which promised even more strength for realizing our ‘Chinese dream’ of national rejuvenation.
Great achievement only comes from great ambition, and there is no success without hardship. Over the past year, the combined efforts and innovation of the university’s teachers and students alike have helped our university to grow in many ways and the competitive edge and social influence of the university has increased significantly . Nanjing Medical University is committed to pushing full-steam ahead to become “a unique, world-renowned elite medical university”.
The year 2013 saw an abundance of achievements in education and in the training of our staff. Three of our courses have been licensed as “national high-quality open courses”. Students from our university won 3rd place in the 4th National Clinical Skills Competition for Medical College Students, being the fourth consecutive year that we did well in this competition. Our students also won first and second prizes for innovation in the 6th National College Student Pharmacy Forum. Two papers by our students won first prizes at the 2nd National Thesis Competition For Health Management Graduates. In addition, in the 2012 national certification exams for doctors, the average pass rates of our students majoring in clinical medicine, dentistry, and public health were 20% higher than the average in China and were significantly higher than the previous year.
There was also great news in curriculum development and in research. In the third round of evaluations by the Ministry of Education of first-class disciplines, the ranking of all 5 NMU disciplines which were evaluated were raised. Public health and preventive medicine was upgraded from 4th in the previous rankings to 3rd place, general medicine moved from 9th to 7th place and dentristy from 8th place to 6th. Clinical medicine, which was ranked in the top 54% in the previous rankings, was ranked in 18th place and in the top 36%,. Nursing, though ranked for the first time, ranked in 8th place. The ESI (Essential Science Indicators) rankings of clinical medicine and pharmacology & toxicology have steadily risen. All these rankings, taken together, directly reflect the continual strengthening of our university’s competitive edge in recent years. In 2013, the university received 233 National Science Foundation grants, which grossed close to ¥120 million, being the second year in a row that we received grants in excess of ¥100 million. As of the end of 2013, we have had over 800 SCI articles published whose intellectual property rights belong to our university. We have also had two high-standard papers published in Nature and Nat Genet respectively. Furthermore, we have won three first prizes in the Provincial Science and Technology Achievement Awards.
Achievements were also made in the establishment of affiliated hospitals and in serving society. The strategy for the future development of our university and its affiliated hospitals is oriented around the following four items: improved training of doctors, pushing forward medicine research, improved clinical treatment and the embracing of development at an international level. NMU’s first affiliated hospital was listed as 20th in the 2012 national rankings of the best hospitals in China and was recognized for having established six “key national clinical specialties”. By all medical indexes, our second affiliated hospital is undergoing steady growth and its revenue for 2013 was the best in its history. The construction of a new, multi-functional building is underway at the Stomatological Hospital of Jiangsu Province, with which we are affiliated. This hospital now has one more specialty that is recognized as a “key national clinical specialty”. Phase One of the construction of our affiliated Mingde Hospital has successfully completed, and the next phase of completing the interior is now underway. Two colleges, Jinling College of Clinical Medicine and The College of Clinical Medicine in Lianyungang, were founded by our school And we also reached agreements with the 101 General PLA Hospital and Shanghai Pudong Hospital for them to be NMU teaching hospitals. Better connections have been built between industry and academia, with various projects having been put into place, such as the in the Life Science High-Technology Park in Jiangning District and a comprehensive Health Sciences Science and Technology Park in Zhengjiang, all of which contribute to local economic and social development.
It is important that we make considered decisions and be careful to promptly reverse any negative run-on effects of our work. We are now implementing the government’s “mass line” education campaign within our university. To ensure the campaign’s success and to ensure we earn the trust and support of the university’s teachers and students alike, we are examining and solving problems, being self-critical, establishing regulations and are determined to make the process smooth and guided by positive action.
Looking back over the past year and how far we have come, we are filled with happiness and pride. In 2014, NMU will celebrate its 80th anniversary. It represents 80 years of altruism and being tireless and sincere in our pursuit of helping people and 80 years of blending morality with achievement, a spirit which I am sure will be passed on to future generations. We sincerely invite all alumni, whether at home or overseas and regardless of their walk of life, to take the time to come back to our university this autumn and join us in celebrating this anniversary.
As we ring in the new year and are filled with optimism for the coming year, I sincerely wish all medical workers, students and the many friends of the university good health, success in their endeavors and a happy new year! Best wishes to you and your family members and I hope that Nanjing Medical University will achieve even greater success in the coming year!
Secretary of the Party Committee, President Chen Qi
12/31/2013
Translated by: Shan Liyang
Edited by: Anthony Williams
