The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) and the Chinese Association of Chest Physicians (CACP), the respiratory arm of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA), have signed an exclusive agreement to collaborate on expanding China’s first-ever fellowship training program, providing clinical education in pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) for Chinese physicians.
This historic announcement came during the opening session of CHEST World Congress 2016 in Shanghai, where approximately 2,000 health care professionals gathered for a 3-day event aimed at connecting clinicians from the United States, China, and around the world for hands-on clinical education in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Among those in attendance were fellows and faculty from the 12 institutions that participated in the inaugural offering of the China-CHEST PCCM program, which was developed and implemented over the past 4 years and is expected to grow to dozens of institutions over the next several years.
Announcing the formal agreement: Darcy Marciniuk, MD, FCCP (Past President, CHEST); Chen Wang, MD, PhD, FCCP (President, Chinese Association of Chest Physicians and Chinese Thoracic Society); and Barbara Phillips, MD, MPH, FCCP (President, CHEST)
Since 2012, CHEST has worked with the Chinese Thoracic Society on the development of China’s first fellowship program, offering standardized training in PCCM for Chinese physicians. As a result of these collective efforts, PCCM has now officially earned recognition as a medical subspecialty by the Chinese Ministry of Health – the first subspecialty of its kind in a country where medical training typically ends after a physician completes residency training. Only a decade ago, physicians in China went directly into practice following medical school. The development of a PCCM subspecialty in China – made possible through the engagement of CHEST’s expert faculty and administration – parallels what has occurred over the past 3 decades in the United States, during which the fields of pulmonary and critical care medicine evolved into the combined subspecialty of PCCM.
Through their groundbreaking collaboration announced today, CHEST and the CACP have committed to working exclusively as partners in continuing to advance the PCCM subspecialty in China to improve patient care, expand in-depth clinical training for Chinese physicians, and develop a growing force of expert Chinese faculty. The goal of such training is to ensure that patients receive the best possible care from Chinese physicians who complete the China-CHEST PCCM fellowship program.
“Recognition by the Chinese Ministry of Health of PCCM as this country’s first-ever physician subspecialty is welcomed acknowledgment that we’re making tremendous headway in advancing physician fellowship training in China,” said Barbara Phillips, MD, MPH, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. “We are proud to join collaborative partners like the CMDA in these cooperative efforts to prepare Chinese physicians in the PCCM subspecialty, partnering in this historic effort to drive immeasurable improvements in clinical training and the delivery of patient care.”