Harbin Medical University

Harbin Medical University was formed from the former Harbin Medical University—originally Harbin Medical School, founded by Chinese medical pioneer Dr. Wu Lien-teh in 1926 and renamed Harbin Medical University in 1938—and the former first and second branches of China Medical University in Xingshan, now Hegang. The latter originated in the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army Medical School established by the Communist Party of China in Ruijin, Jiangxi, in 1931.

Over 90 years of development, the university has carried forward Dr. Wu Lien-teh’s spirit of “sincere patriotism, self-reliance and enterprise” and the Red Army Medical School’s proud tradition of “political commitment and technical excellence.” Upholding the motto “Upright as Timber Aligned to the Measuring Line, Broad Learning in Service of Medicine,” it has continually strengthened its overall capabilities. With a substantial scale and distinctive educational characteristics, it now ranks among China’s leading medical universities. It is a Heilongjiang high-level university receiving priority development, the Chinese lead institution of the Sino-Russian Medical University Alliance and a university jointly developed by national ministries and the province.

Its affiliated units include the schools of Basic Medical Sciences, Public Health, Health Management, Pharmacy, Graduate Studies, Adult and Continuing Education, International Education, Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Humanities and Social Sciences, Marxism, Stomatology, Ophthalmology and Nursing; departments of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine, Medical Imaging and Pathology; the Physical Education Division; the First through Fifth Clinical Medical Schools and their affiliated hospitals; and Daqing Campus. It also hosts the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Endemic Disease Control, a National Base for Training Basic Science Research and Teaching Talent, a National Clinical Trial Research Center for New Drugs, the National Health and Family Planning Commission’s Russian Language Training Center, the Heilongjiang Academy of Medical Sciences and the Harbin Medical University Sino-Russian Medical Research Center.

The university has 8855 established faculty and staff positions. Its personnel include 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering; 1 chair of that academy’s Division of Medicine and Health; 1 Florence Nightingale Medal recipient; 3 members of the State Council’s disciplinary appraisal groups; 13 members of Ministry of Education higher education teaching advisory committees; 5 nationally distinguished teachers; 1 National Distinguished Young Scholars Fund recipient; 2 “Thousand Talents Plan” experts; 1 distinguished professor, 1 chair professor and 1 young scholar under the Changjiang Scholars Program; 2 leading talents and 1 top young talent under the “Ten Thousand Talents Plan”; 30 distinguished professors under the provincial “Longjiang Scholars” program; and 102 recipients of State Council special government allowances.

It was among the first Ministry of Education institutions to pilot seven-year higher medical education and among the first national pilots for the Excellent Doctor Education and Training Program. The main university offers 17 regular higher education programs: basic medicine through a “5+2” continuous undergraduate-master’s pathway; clinical medicine through “5+3” integrated or five-year programs; stomatology; pediatrics; nursing; anesthesiology; pharmacy; preventive medicine; medical imaging; public affairs management; law; biotechnology; bioinformatics; clinical pharmacy; marketing; health supervision; and biomedical engineering.

It has 21022 students, including 5370 postgraduate students; 11367 regular undergraduates, of whom 7592 are at the main university and 3775 at Daqing Campus; 2797 regular junior-college students; 466 international students; 356 adult education junior-college students; and 666 students upgrading from junior-college to undergraduate study.

It has 8 first-level doctoral degree authorizations—in basic medicine, clinical medicine, public health and preventive medicine, biology, biomedical engineering, public administration, pharmacy and nursing—and 11 first-level master’s degree authorizations. It has 63 second-level doctoral and 66 second-level master’s authorizations and 5 postdoctoral research stations. Its biology and pharmacy stations are nationally outstanding postdoctoral research stations. It has 2 national key disciplines, 1 national key discipline under cultivation, 33 national key clinical specialty development projects, 21 provincial key disciplines or clusters, 1 cultivation base for a state key laboratory jointly developed by the province and a ministry, 3 jointly developed provincial-ministerial Ministry of Education key laboratories, 2 Ministry of Health key laboratories, 6 provincial key laboratories and 11 provincial regular university key laboratories.

It passed the Ministry of Education’s seven-year higher medical education teaching evaluation in 2003 and the National Natural Science Foundation’s evaluation of basic science research and teaching talent training bases in 2004. In 2005, it received excellent results in the Ministry of Education’s undergraduate teaching evaluation and other assessments. In 2006, it became the first medical institution in China to participate in a pilot international medical education accreditation evaluation. All 36 institutional indicators met the basic requirements of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Global Standards for Medical Education, and 26 met the requirements for high-quality standards. Overseas experts recognized its quality of talent cultivation. In 2014, it led the establishment of the Sino-Russian Medical University Alliance. In 2015, it was approved as a university jointly developed by national ministries and the province.