Internationalization: a blueprint for collaborative education in Asia

Abstract

The Hong Kong model for collaboration in education in Asia is based on internationalization. Hong Kong benefits from being an international city combining an Eastern heritage and a Western society. The University of Hong Kong ranks among the world’s top 25 universities (2012/13 QS World University Rankings), and its Division of Paediatric Surgery has an international reputation in research and training. In the past two decades, Hong Kong has leading roles in major international paediatric surgical organizations including PAPS, IPEG, AAPS and WOFAPS. While Hong Kong has close collaboration with Japan and other advanced economies, the talk will focus on our transfer of international experience to Mainland China which may serve as a model of collaboration with other developing economies in Asia. Specifically, (1) A Train-the-trainer scheme consisting of a 1-year structured education program for next-generation leaders from selected centres enabled replication and proliferation of similar training nationwide. (2) A series of Laparoscopic Workshops resulted in training of over 1000 surgeons in basic and advanced skills in minimally invasive surgery within 5 years, and the establishment of a national specialist organization overseeing development and quality assurance. (3) A series of Cross-Strait Symposia on Paediatric Oncology established the foundation of multidisciplinary, multicentre collaboration in education and research in Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.