Thanks to sponsorship from the US State Department, National Cheng Kung University is now offering a medical program in English to improve its medical students’ use of the language.
Tsai Mei-ling (蔡美玲), director of the Office of International Affairs at the university’s College of Medicine, said the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) had accepted her proposal for the US’ English Language Specialist Program — a project funded by the State Department that sends US academics specializing in teaching English as a second or foreign language abroad to help develop curriculum, textbooks, or hold training seminars for teachers.
Upon acceptance of the proposal, the Office of English Language Programs at the State Department dispatched Andrew Noonan, one of the fellows of the program, to offer a 10-month medical English program to the College of Medicine, she said.
Tsai said Taiwanese medical students need to develop a more “global vision” and “awareness as citizens of the global village” if they hoped to increase their participation in international medical missions.
In addition, Tsai said, medical majors should also be encouraged to help the nation develop medical tourism with Taiwanese characteristics.
“To reach this goal, encouraging students to participate in overseas training and international rescue is an important start,” Tsai said. “The improvement of the use of professional [medical] English is the only way to motivate this very first step.”
During a meeting with university president Michael Lai (賴明詔) in Tainan on Thursday, Scott Robinson, director of AIT’s American Culture Center, praised Taiwan’s medical system, adding that he expected the program to contribute to greater participation by Taiwanese medical students in developing medical tourism and in international medical or rescue services.
In a related development, Tony Lin (林文通), director of the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations, said the ministry planned to expand foreign intern exchanges between Taiwan and France.
The ministry and the French Institute in Taipei launched the exchange program three years ago to enhance mutual understanding, with Taiwan sending a number of teaching assistants to teach Mandarin in secondary schools in France, while France sent students to Taiwan to serve as teaching assistants in French classes.
Eleven Taiwanese students were sent to France this year, while 10 French students came to Taiwan.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS