yale-china review spring 2014

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YALE-CHINA REVIEW

十年树木, 百年树人

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Martha Finn Brooks, Chair

Max Ma, TreasurerMichael J. Wishnie, Secretary

Deborah S. DavisKristopher P. Fennie

Douglas M. FergusonSally A. Harpole

Fred HuJan F. KielyPing LiangVivian Ling

Christian F. MurckPamela Phuong N. Phan

Alan J. PlattusNancy R. Reynolds

Robert M. RohrbaughKatherine L. Sandweiss

Peter M. SteinHenry S. TangQinan Tang

Ming ThompsonMary Gwen Wheeler

Ann B. Williams Barry J. Wu

HONORARY TRUSTEEEdith N. MacMullen

STAFFNancy Yao Maasbach, Executive Director

Michelle Averitt, Creative Coordinator

Betty Ho, Senior Administrative Assistant, China Office

Jonathan Green, Director of Finance and Operations

Magdaline Lawhorn, Operations Associate

Annie Lin, Senior Program Officer, Arts

Zijie Peng, Manager, Greater China and Senior Program Officer, Education

Leslie Stone, Director for Hong Kong and Director of Education

Brendan Woo, Senior Program Officer, Education

Lucy Yang, Senior Program Officer, Health

YALE-CHINA ASSOCIATION442 Temple Street

Box 208223New Haven, CT 06520Phone: 203-432-0884

E-mail: [email protected]

XIANGYA SCHOOL OF MEDICINE CENTENNIALOctober 18, 2014 Changsha, Hunan

For more information, please visit: www.yalechina.org

Dear Yale-China friend,

Have you ever met a centenarian?

How about one who served in war-torn China and witnessed first-hand the ever-evolving U.S.-China relationship? I know such a person—her name is Maude Pettus, a model servant, ambassador, and friend. An individual who, despite unfathomable loss, always sparkles with mention of China, Chinese people, and Chinese tea.

As one-half of a nurse and doctor, wife and husband, team at Xiangya School of Medicine in Changsha, Hunan, in the 1930s, Maude was a leader in developing western surgical practices in China. In April, Maude celebrated her 100th birthday. This October, Xiangya School of Medicine celebrates its 100th anniversary. In this issue of the Yale-China Review, we celebrate Maude Pettus and Xiangya School of Medicine. For many Chinese, such a coincidence in birth and life would be considered yuan fen 缘分, or one’s pre-determined affinity. For Maude, she calls it “grace” and, she adds “…love.”

Although I had heard the Chinese proverb 十年树木百年树人 (It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to cultivate a person) mentioned many times, including when President Obama toasted former President Hu Jintao of China in 2011, it was not until my conversation with Maude on her 100th birthday that its meaning resonated with greater richness. As President Chen Fangping of Third Xiangya Hospital, his colleagues, and I enjoyed Chinese tea with Maude and her daughter Ann (who was born at Xiangya Hospital in 1942), we marveled how Xiangya today has over 10,000 outpatients a day, a model state residency program, numerous medical exchanges, and cutting-edge research. Yet, beyond these remarkable achievements, what struck us most that early April afternoon was the warmth, familiarity, and connection we had with one another.

With steady investment in relationships and partnerships—many for over 100 years—Yale-China sees what is possible through collaboration. Not all of the lessons that we learned along the way were easy ones. Dr. Edward Hume realized soon after arriving in China in the 1910s that he would need to learn the Chinese language to truly exhibit mutual respect. Difficult lessons in the meaning of mutual respect, the genuine display of that respect, and the trust built through commitment have paved the way for Yale-China’s program work in education, health, and the arts. Yale-China knows that it can do so much more when it collaborates—a learning process in and of itself.

As a committed and passionate member of the Yale-China community, you are inextricably linked to the U.S.-China relationship. You are vital to fostering long-term relationships that improve this important bilateral relation. Yale-China’s community is comprised of like-minded individuals, such as Yale-China Trustees Max Ma, CEO of 7thOnline and former student of Yale-China Teaching Fellows in Wuhan in 1988, Vivian Ling, professor and dedicated educator of Chinese language, and Pamela Phan, lawyer and specialist in international investment and Chinese law. Yale-China thanks them for their six years of consecutive service on Yale-China’s board.

Throughout this issue, you will learn about Yale-China’s current work through reflections and stories. As always, I hope to hear from you. Please drop me a note in the enclosed envelope.

With warmest regards,

Nancy Yao MaasbachExecutive Director

Thank You Hongping Tian, Ph.D.Yale-China expresses its sincere gratitude to Hongping Tian, Ph.D., director of Yale-China’s Health Program from September 2005 – March 2014. For over nine years, Hongping has gone about her work quietly and expertly, amassing accomplishments, victories, and relations with little fanfare or acknowledgement. Yet, if one examines the body of work that Hongping has spearheaded for Yale-China—from improving healthcare in rural China to creating a network of dedicated and talented female health professionals to leading the creating of a medical residency model for China—a deep value is revealed.

With a distinguished background in sciences and public health and true gifts in relationship-building, Hongping Tian has led the Yale-China Health Program to its best-in-class stature today. For all these reasons and more, Yale-China is deeply thankful for her commitment to the mission and vision of the organization. We wish her the best as she takes on new professional challenges closer to her home in Boston. We are excited that she will remain a member of the greater Yale-China family.

WelcomeLiyuan (Theodore) Peng 彭礼元

Yale-China congratulates Zijie (Bill) Peng, Yale-China’s manager for Greater China, and his wife Fan Zhang who welcomed their new addition: Liyuan (Theodore/Teddy) Peng at 11:05AM, April 19, 2014 (Beijing Time) weighing 7 pounds 9.7 ounces.

Teddy’s Chinese first name Liyuan (礼元) is a combination of the Chinese character Li (礼), same as his elder brother Liwen, meaning “courtesy” “manners” or “rite” and taken from the Chinese name of Yale-China (雅礼). The second character, Yuan (元), consists of an upper part, 二, meaning “two” or “second,” and a lower part, 儿, meaning “son with a combined meaning of “first” or “inception.”As the second child in the family, this name is to tell him that he is considered as important as his elder brother and marks the beginning of a brand new time for the family. Teddy’s English name is inspired by former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and Teddy Bear, with the hope that he will grow to become an individual with charisma and leadership while still maintaining innocence and kindness in his heart. Teddy’s mother Fan Zhang is a hematologist working at the Third Xiangya Hospital affiliated with Central South University.

2014-2016 Teaching Fellows (English)from Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut

Cory Combs ‘14Yali Middle School

Kerri Lu ‘14Chinese University

of Hong Kong

Maggie Neil ‘14Sun Yat-sen University

Megan Jenkins ‘14Xiuning Middle School

Brendan Ross ‘13Yali Middle School

Ariel Stambler ‘14Chinese University

of Hong Kong

Daniel Sisgoreo ‘14Sun Yat-sen University

Katie Stewart ‘14Xiuning Middle School

2014-2015 Teaching Fellows (Chinese)from Yali Middle School in Changsha, Hunan, China

Li ZhengEdgewood

Magnet School

Huang YingMetropolitan

Business Academy

Yale-China's New Teaching FellowsContinuing a 105-Year Tradition

Welcome & Congratulations

Maude Pettus, Friend of ChinaIn 1914, the year of their births, few would have foreseen that Maude Pettus (née Miller) born in Pennsylvania and the Xiangya School of Medicine established in Changsha would be linked by an unbreakable bond that would last over 100 years.

On a warm morning this past April, Yale-China staff sat down with Maude Pettus, who served Yale-China and the Chinese people with her husband Dr. Winston Pettus in Changsha from 1940-1945. Spending time with Maude, there is no doubt she is your elder. Yet, you would never guess that you were interacting with a centenarian. Receiving us warmly, she offered drinks and cookies—we are immediately smitten by this petite woman who defies the stereotypes of old age. Animated, engaging, cheerful—Maude is a delightful interlocutor. We looked forward to looking back with her on her years of connection with Yale-China.

From her earliest days, Maude has been strong-minded: at four years old she announced to her family and the rest of the world, “When I grow up, I want to go to China as a missionary.” This seems unremarkable in today’s egalitarian world, but in a family and local culture where, as Maude says, it was believed “Children should be seen and not heard,” her announcement was precocious, to say the least!

With a preacher father, Maude took the Christian message to heart and developed a desire to give of herself in service, enrolling in and eventually graduating from Capital City School of Nursing in Washington, D.C. in 1936.

After graduation, still strong-minded, Maude swore off men, opting instead for the life of a trained professional. “Did I want to get married? No! I wanted a career.”

But her determination suffered a setback—namely, Dr. Winston Pettus. Win had come to her hospital as an unofficial intern, and quickly caught her attention. In the 16 days of his internship, they had six dates together, and Win wanted to keep in contact.

“Will you write to me?” Win entreated.

Maude responded definitively, “Oh, I don’t write letters at all.”

“Well, if I write to you, will you answer?’

“Oh, I’ll answer a letter, sure! I’ll always answer a letter. But I’ll never make the beginning of starting a relationship with a letter.”

The letters did not just maintain their connection: Maude and Win were married on June 23, 1937, the same day of Win’s graduation from Yale School of Medicine. The generous gift of two round-the-world tickets allowed them a memorable first year.

One afternoon after returning to work in Washington, D.C. at the General Hospital,

Win heard of Yale-China’s need for physicians in Changsha. He was immediately captured by the idea, but Win was worried about Maude’s response, as his previous girlfriend had been scared away by his China ambitions. Nevertheless, he went to broach the subject with Maude. As Maude remembers it, “That night when he came home, he said, ‘How would you like to go to China?’ I responded without a pause, ‘CHINA! Oh, I’ve wanted to go to China since I was four years old!’”

It was one thing to talk about going to China in the late 1930s; it was another thing still to actually set out. Japan had captured most of China’s major cities by the end of that year,

though Changsha resisted Japanese control until 1944. Many might have questioned the wisdom of going to China at that time, but the young couple embarked on their journey, arriving in Changsha in the summer of 1940. Maude’s first impression of war-torn Changsha was bleak; wartime conditions were horrendous, but Maude and Win, working side-by-side, began their duties at the Xiangya School of Medicine. Maude was impressed with the hospital, noting that “The quality of the staff and arrangement of the hospital were very good.” But her supervising nurse was apparently grateful for the newly-arrived help, as Maude’s arrival allowed the nurse to go on vacation—the very next day!

“One of my favorite jokes about me being head nurse in the hospital without any training yet in Chinese, was when I asked one [Chinese] nurse if she needed a “PM” [ed. Note: a “PM” is a night shift.] The nurses always had a “PM” one day a week. Because I figured she might not have had it. And she said, “No, I peed yesterday”! [laughing] So I understood right away what I was up against!”

Maude and Win worked wholeheartedly with friends and visitors alike, giving them a sense of being loved and cared for, laboring tirelessly for the Chinese who came through the doors of the hospital in Changsha.

In order to expand the range of their service, Win learned to fly a small L-5 military plane so that he could deliver emergency medical supplies to needy areas.

On November 18, 1945, the years of ebullient life and service in China were tragically cut short. While Maude and their two children were getting ready to return to China from the USA, Win was killed as he flew a relief mission to Western China.

To some, five years of marriage would seem short; to Maude, it was the love of a lifetime. They had packed more living into those five years than many couples do in a lifetime.

Despite Win’s absence, the relationship between Maude, Xiangya School of Medicine, and the Yale-China Association continued. Sixty-seven years after that fateful November day, Maude received the Yale-China Award in 2012 for her years of service and friendship to Yale-China and Xiangya.

China had a profound impact on Maude’s life. “My life was changed. I think it had the greatest change in my life. I mean, you suddenly are a different person in a different picture. And everything, the picture was entirely changed.”

The Chinese would say that such intertwined lives are an example of yuan fen (缘分), but Maude said, laughing, “You know what it was? It was grace. It had nothing to do with Maude.”

As our time with Maude ended that April morning, we could not help but talk about Xiangya School of Medicine, and its continued work to this day. As Maude wished Xiangya happy birthday, she pronounced a blessing of affirmation: “Happy Birthday! You have come 100 steps to bringing health and happiness to the country.”

For the complete interview with Maude, please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGtsJGApy20.

十年树木百年树人 It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to cultivate a person.

Happy Birt hday, Maude Pettus

4 HISTORY

Happy Anniversary,

It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to cultivate a person. 十年树木百年树人

1913 The Yale Mission changes its name to Yale-in-China. The Xiangya Agreement establishes a new model for collaboration between Chinese and Americans. The Xiangya School of Nursing admits its first class of students.

1914 Maude Pettus is born; Xiangya School of Medicine is established by Yale-China.

1918 Construction of the Xiangya Hospital is completed.

1921 Xiangya Medical College graduates its first class of physicians, and the Xiangya Hospital meets the standards of the American College of Surgeons.

1924 Edward Hume is inaugurated as the first president of the Colleges of Yale-in-China.

1928 The Yale-in-China institutions gradually re-open under Chinese leadership. Each school relies on its own graduates to fill faculty ranks. The Yali Middle School joins with other Christian schools to become Yali Union Middle School.

1930s Fu-chun Yen serves as Minister of Health.

1931 Throughout the decade, Yale-in-China assumes a new role in Changsha: its representatives serve in teaching and consultative roles within the schools and provide medical and nursing care within the hospital, but leadership positions in each institutions are held by Chinese.

1932 Xiangya Medical School and Hospital begin public health work in Changsha and throughout Hunan province with support from the provincial and national governments.

1934 Edward Hume, M.D., pioneer of Yale-China’s medical work in Changsha, returns to Changsha to visit the institutions he helped to establish, now under Chinese administration.

1937 The Japanese invasion of China brings horrific violence and destruction to vast swaths of the country.

1938 Yale-in-China schools move their students, faculty, and equipment to safer locations in western Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces. Late in the year, much of Changsha is destroyed in a massive fire.

1940 Wartime hardships through 1945 exact a heavy toll on the hospital and each of the Yale-in-China schools. Budgetary constraints lead the Xiangya School of Medicine to convert from a private to a national institution.

1945 After the Japanese surrender, staff and students return to Changsha. Enrollment booms.

1948 Edward Hume publishes his memoir Doctors East, Doctors West.

1949 The People’s Republic of China is established and the Nationalist government flees to Taiwan.

1950 Most Yale-in-China staff depart from Changsha and Wuhan. The remaining representative is confined to his home in Changsha under suspicion of espionage, and expelled in 1951.

1951 Institutions affiliated with Yale-in-China in Changsha and Wuhan are renamed and nationalized. Chinese who studied or worked at Yale-in-China face severe political persecution.

1972 Richard Nixon’s visit to China begins gradual rapprochement between the U.S. and China, raising hopes of renewed contacts in education.

Below is an excerpted timeline of the Yale-China Association’s early beginnings in medicine in China and the establishment of the Xiangya School of Medicine.

1980 The Bachelor program resumes in the mainland at Xiangya School of Medicine and Wuhan University, expanding to additional institutions in these and other cities in later years.

1981 Faculty exchanges begin between Xiangya School of Medicine and the Yale School of Medicine.

1996 Yale-China’s work in nursing is resumed for the first time in decades, becoming a major focus of its work in health.

1998 The Chia Family Public Health Fellowship Program is established. Exchanges of teachers between New Haven and Ningbo begin.

2001 The Yale-China centennial is celebrated in New Haven and Changsha.

2006 Yale-China partners with Xiangya School of Medicine to create one of China’s six model residency programs.

2011 Health program work expands to Western Hunan.

2014 Maude Pettus, former head nurse at Xiangya School of Medicine, and Xiangya School of Medicine turn 100.

“You have come 100 steps to bringing inspiration and friendships to the

people of the U.S. and China.”

Maude Pettus’ birthday wishes to the Xiangya School of Medicine

To read more about Yale-China’s history, including its work in education and institution-building, visit www.yalechina.org.

Xiangya delegation led by President Chen Fangping of Third Xiangya Hospital visits Maude Pettus on her 100th Birthday in April 2014.

Xiangya School of MedicineHappy Birt hday, Maude Pettus

5HISTORY

Happy Anniversary,

To Love and To Hug Long Chuan, Cooperative Arts and Humanities High SchoolIt was a sunny Friday afternoon in late May when I received the phone call from the main campus. They informed me that I was chosen to go to the United States. I called my family and friends about the news and I felt like hugging someone, but I suddenly stopped and figured out I was in the faculty room. I shouldn’t be so crazy.

I remembered when I first started to teach English, I taught my students how people from different countries greet each other. In European countries people are very graceful and greet with a kiss at the cheek. There is also a group of people called Maori, whose greeting tradition is hongi (use noses to touch others’ noses). For shy and conservative Chinese people, we shake our hands in some formal occasions. In the United States, people like to hug friends to say hello and goodbye.

I then realized that I came to a country where people never hesitate to express their love and to give a hug. I was touched by how tight my friends hug me here. Whenever I came back from a trip, they will show me that they feel happy to see me again by giving a big, warm hug.

One of the best things to be in the American classroom is that students are never shy to express themselves. One day a girl who is a friend of my Chinese 1 student, came to me and said, “Hi Miss, this week seems to be so long since no one hugged me!” Then I hugged her and said, “Poor girl, have a nice day!” Those small things happen every day. The first school day after the spring break, a boy finished his make-up assignment and was ready to hand it in. He asked about our plan for that day and after grading him I told him we were going to watch movies, he walked towards me and hugged me and said “Thank you for being here, and thank you for the movie!” I didn’t expect that he would say that. At that moment, I understand that the happiest thing for a teacher is the students show their love to you!

I think I fell in love with the American hug. If I had another chance, going back to that Friday afternoon in the faculty room, I wouldn’t hesitate to hug anyone that I’d like to share my happiness with.

Shortly after we arrived here, I feared public transportation. Everyone I knew had their own cars, and my colleagues, very cautious and concerned for my safety, warned me to stay away from the buses. My own stereotypes about people who dressed certain ways and the homeless also made me uncomfortable.

But, without a car of my own, at times I had to take the bus. One day, as I was waiting at the bus stop, a man showed up, wearing clothes which were too big for him. I was afraid, and put myself on guard. But then, a lady came to the pizza shop nearby. It was slippery, so she stopped, cautious about moving. Then the guy stepped up and offered his hand to the lady. My fears were, of course, unfounded.

In my time in New Haven, I have tried to get rid of many of my stereotypes, that were formed from talking to other Americans, watching TV, and reading the news. But even though I know they are wrong, it is hard to get rid of them completely. Once, as I was walking along the street, I heard a cry from across the street, “Hey, what’s up?” I turned to look. I was alone on the street, and had been warned that there were many homeless people in New Haven. Just as I was about to turn away, scared, he gave a big smile, yelling, “你好！再见!”(“Hello! Good-bye!”) and kept on walking. I was stunned.

“People believe what they choose to believe.”

The BusDeng Haihui, Metropolitan Business Academy

Yale-China’s first Chinese Teaching Fellows concluded their year in the New Haven Public Schools. Originally from Yali Middle School in Changsha, Deng Haihui and Long Chuan return to Changsha at the end of June 2014. Yale-China congratulates Deng Haihui and Long Chuan for pioneering this important new initiative. Yale-China will welcome two new Chinese Teaching Fellows from Yali Middle School in August 2014 and aims to bring four Chinese Teaching Fellows to the U.S. in August 2015. For more about the Yale-China Chinese Teaching Fellowship, please visit: www.yalechina.org/education/fellowship.


6 EDUCATION PROGRAM


One Classroom at a TimeA conversation with Leslie Stone, Director of EducationBy Michael Packevicz

Twice a year, the Yale-China Education staff convenes a conference with the current Yale-China Teaching Fellows. The gathering allows the Director and program officers to mentor the Teaching Fellows, debrief the semester, and provide professional development. After the recent spring conference, Education Program Director Leslie Stone reflected on Yale-China’s work in education in China.

Leslie Stone has been in the field of education for more than 25 years, and has been involved with China for most of that period in some way or another having witnessed China in and out of the classroom. Now, working with Yale-China, she gets to pass on experience and training in two different cultures, working with Yale-China’s Teaching Fellows.

For Leslie, her excitement for the work is the intensity that the relational elements of the Fellowship years, which allow for a broadening, or even transformation. For the Teaching Fellows in China, their experience of living and working closely with their Chinese partners is transformative. Talking about the recent production of Aladdin that she saw in Changsha with her family, Leslie said, “It

was fantastic! Everything was so well done, the singing was amazing.” But it was not just the quality of the performance that impressed Leslie. “At the last performance, the whole cast and crew were crying together. They had had this incredible, intense, life-changing experience together.” With an experience like doing Aladdin, or taking students on a service trip to Nanjing Middle School in Fujian

province, Leslie “knows how well they come to know each other.”

On this side of the ocean, Leslie is enthusiastic in the same way about the Chinese Teaching Fellows who commit to the New Haven public schools for one year. “Accompanying the Chinese Teaching Fellows on their incredible journey in New Haven has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me. They are now so comfortable in their U.S. setting: wonderfully effective in their schools, making lifelong friendships, gaining experiences that will shape the rest of their lives.”

Leslie’s almost parental joy in walking with the Fellows through this process of learning and change is admirable. “The teachers are on this incredible journey—they are really students themselves.” Moreover, with this year’s first pair of Chinese Teaching Fellows teaching in New Haven, Leslie is struck by the same sort of metamorphosis. Seeing this deep learning—not just of information, but of thinking and assumptions and values—that leads to expanding minds: that’s why Leslie does what she does. “Yale-China’s mission is to ‘inspire people to learn and serve together.’

Leslie sees the intensity of working together, of constantly pushing themselves to cross the U.S.-China cultural border, as a catalyst. “If you’re going to challenge people to expand their minds—which is what we are trying to do in both directions—pushing them to cross the geographical and cultural border is one of the best ways to do it.” Acknowledging that “the need today for that kind of engagement is even greater” than in the past, Leslie suggests that “There is another level in our relationship with China that can be attained by individuals who commit a serious amount of time and thought to learning and serving with Chinese people.” And it is this journey of relationship and transformation that “inspires me most.”

As an educator and teacher, I see that Yale-China’s legacy is in its relationships. And it is this commitment to relationships that inspires Leslie and the Education team each morning. In Confucius’ Analects, one reads, “There may be those who act without knowing why. I do not do so. Hearing much, selecting what is good and following it; seeing much and keeping it in memory—this is the style of knowledge I prefer.” For Leslie Stone, allowing for the nuggets of knowledge and growth that come from learning language, learning cuisines, and learning customs is vital. But there is that next level, that deeper level, that only comes with relationship, reflection, and rebirth. As Leslie reflected, “It would be a huge loss if Americans and Chinese were not pushed to know each other and themselves at this level.”

关系的建立 Chinh Pham, Yale-China Teaching Fellow, Yali Middle School, Changsha

几天以前我请雅礼中学的总务处张主任帮我们做几个音乐剧的道具。我告诉他我们需要做一个木头支架和一个门。我们会把学生画的背景靠在这个支架上，那个门是音乐剧中主角的房子的门。然后张主任介绍了余师傅给我认识。我见余师傅的时候我告诉他我想跟他一起做音乐剧的道具，所以他留了我的电话号码。过了几天以后余师傅给我打了一个电话，要我十分钟后在楼下见他。我见到他的时候他和一个人已经开始在做了。他们欢迎我过去加入他们。

他们教我怎么做木头道具。我们先砍了七根木头，把它们钉在一起做成一块木板。做完一块木板以后我们坐下来一边抽烟，一边聊天，喝水。他们说他们要我教他们说英语还有越南语，这样他们就可以帮他们的朋友找一个美国或者越南女朋友。当然他们是开玩笑的。事实上，我们做道具的时候，他们一直在一起调侃说笑。看起来他们是认识了很久的朋友。

然后我们又做了一块木板，把它和之前的木板拼在一起，加起来可能比一个河马还要大！

我们很快就做完了！一共只花了五十分钟的时间！

我很高兴他们让我加入，因为我觉得他们把我当作他们中的一员。我在中国很容易发觉自己是不同的，是个外人，那种感觉很糟糕。我知道我不是中国人，但是当我感觉自己融入到一个中国的集体的时候，那种感觉很好。For the English translation, please visit www.yalechina.org

7EDUCATION PROGRAM

Michael Packevicz (Yale College 1986) recently returned from China after serving as a teacher and education administrator for the last 15 years.

Leslie Stone, Minh Tran, and Zijie Peng at a teaching conference.

First established in 1998 to:• Enhance career opportunities for Chinese

women working in the health professions• Improve health outcomes in communities in

Hunan Province• Foster collaborations between Yale University

faculty and Chinese women in the health professions

• Develop linkages between Chinese rural and urban health institutions and professionals

Supported by the Chia Family Foundation, partners of the program include:• Yale School of Nursing• Yale School of Medicine• Xiangya School of Medicine• Kunming Medical University• Fenghuang and Huayuan Counties in

western Hunan Province

The major milestones for the Program include:

Term 1: 1998-20019 Fellows from Xiangya travel to New Haven for five months. During this time they are mentored by a Yale faculty member and design an academic project that is implemented when they return to China.Term 2: 2003-20078 fellows from Xiangya go through a similar mentoring experience. The Chia Conference was introduced to present findings of the projects. Yale mentors travel to Changsha to participate in the conference with their mentees.

Current Program StructureTerm 3: 2007-2012The Fellowship expanded to Kunming in Yunnan Province, with Kunming Medical University as the local collaborating institution. 18 fellows trained, 2 fellows from Xiangya and 2 from KMU each year. Community program (see below) was begun. Term 4: 2012-2015Western Hunan Fellowship introduced. 2 fellows from Fenghuang and 2 from Huayuan are mentored by Xiangya faculty, many of whom had been Chia fellows themselves.

Chia Fellowship Components• 4 Fellows from universities in Hunan and

Yunnan receive training at Yale• Mentoring by Yale faculty • Project proposal development at Yale• Project Implementation in China

Chia Western Hunan Fellowship• 4 Fellows from rural western Hunan receive

training at Xiangya• Mentoring by Xiangya faculty • Project proposal development at Xiangya• Project Implementation in western Hunan

Chia Community Health Service and Education ProgramAdded to the existing Chia Fellowship in 2006, this program supports collaborative projects between former fellows from Xiangya and KMU to address health needs among vulnerable communities in China.

Examples of projects include:• Improving the mental health of the community

and the recovery of patients with chronic psychiatric diseases through a project that integrates education for community residents.

• Ophthalmology screening and treatment for identified ailments among HIV/AIDS patients in Hunan

Program Outcomes

Fellowship Year (total # of fellows)

% promoted

% with higher

degrees

1998-2001 (9) 100 100

2003-2006 (8) 38 38

2007-2011 (18) 28 39

2012-2014 (8) 38 25

Advancing the Careers of Chinese Women Health ProfessionalsYale-China and the Yale School of Medicine presented the following poster at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health in Washington, D.C. on May 10, 2014. Yale-China trustees and Yale School of Medicine faculty Robert Rohrbaugh, MD and Barry Wu, MD joined Yale-China staff Lucy Yang, Senior Program Officer, Health.

The Yale-China Chia Family Health Fellowship

“The Yale-China Chia Fellows step deep into the frontiers of primary healthcare through the implementation of their projects and push medical care into the community; into the daily life of the people. [They are] leading people to live a healthier life.” – Tian Yongquan, former dean of Xiangya School

of Medicine, Central South University


8 HEALTH PROGRAM

Chia Fellows Pumpkin Carving at Yale-China: 2013-2014 Chia Fellows (L to R: WANG Yanjiao, YAN Chunli, XU Fang, XIE Jianfei)

Former Chia Fellow LUO Jing (2008) examining a patient during a visit to her Chia Community project site in June 2009.

Former Chia Fellows engaged in lively discussion at the 2012 Yale-China Chia Conference in Kunming, China.

中国医疗卫生现状的反思中国作为世界第一大国，自改革开放后在卫生保健取得的成绩得到世界卫生组织专家的称赞，在医疗卫生体制改革、减少乙型肝炎、应对新发传染病等公共卫生方面取得了一些重要成就。为了使更多的人获得医疗服务，政府的医疗卫生的财政投入在逐年加大。以2014年新型合作医疗为例，农民只要每年交40元新农合费用，如果有人住院就可以得到40%~75%的医疗费用报销，60岁以上的有慢性病的老人特别是孤寡老人，则可以得到更高的费用报销。医疗保险的覆盖包含95%的总人口。自1992乙肝疫苗计划免疫的实施，使我国5岁以下儿童乙肝感染率下降到1%以下。但中国医疗卫生服务面临巨大的挑战，医疗卫生服务一直是政府、人们关注的热点。

医疗体制的问题。虽然中国绝大多数的医疗机构均为公益性医院，但由于国家投入过少，导致医疗服务过度的市场化，卫生人力资源和设施过度集中在三级医院。加上转诊制度不完善，最为便利的基层医疗机构缺乏病人，而三级医疗机构特别是省城的三级医院却处处人满为患。看病贵、看病难的问题得不到根本地解决。

医患矛盾日益凸显。由于医疗服务地市场化，加上药品销售、医疗器械销售存在贿赂现象，患者渐渐失去了对医务人员的基本信任。医务人员的收入很大程度来源于患者对药品、仪器、检查等消费，过度医疗现象非常严重，也使很多患者不再相信医务人员对他们实施是最佳的措施。医患冲突、伤医现象时有发生。

伴随中国经济的快速发展，带来的一些对健康的负面影响日益突出。一方面是中国的快速城市化和工业化以及私家车使用的快速增长带来的环境污染如空气污染和水的污染，如雾霾引起

的呼吸道疾患增加。环境污染包括水、土壤和空气污染使得中国肿瘤病人大量增加，恶性肿瘤的年增长率可高达10%，成为了城市居民的首位死因。

人们生活水平的提高，生活方式的改变，人口的老龄化，慢性病如高血压、肥胖等已成为中国重要的公共卫生问题，中国是糖尿病患者增长速度最快的国家。专家预计2020年中国内地将有85%的死亡源于慢性病。

医疗服务的不均衡性，医疗卫生服务城乡差别仍是非常大，农村缺医现象普遍存在。很多的医学类专业的毕业生宁愿选择不从事卫生保健事业，也不愿意去基层从事基础卫生保健工作。一是农村的生活条件差，二是基层医务人员的收入不高。

如何培养适应于中国现状的卫生保健人才以应对中国当前医疗卫生的挑战，值得医学院校教育者的深思。除了重视培养医学专科人才，更应培养学生具有大卫生观念、团队协作意识，具备服务基层的意识和能力，学校应该从专业的设置、培养方案的制订等进行全方位的改革，以满足城乡居民的健康需求。

For the English translation, please visit www.yalechina.org


Reflections on the Yale-China Chia Fellowship Cai Shan

“How to train health professionals to better meet the current healthcare demands in China is a daunting challenge, but one worthy of thoughtful reflection from medical educators throughout China.”

Yale-China Trustee Ann Williams, Professor of Nursing at UCLA, and Wong Honghong, Professor of Nursing at Xiangya School of Nursing.

Wang Honghong was a Yale-China Chia Fellow in 1992 when she as a lecturer at the Xiangya School of Nursing. While at Yale, she worked with Dr. Ann Williams at the Yale School of Nursing. Wang Honghong went on to receive her Ph.D. degree in nursing in China and has been promoted to Vice Dean. Her relationship with Dr. Williams has continued beyond the Fellowship, and has changed from mentor-mentee to research colleagues. They have obtained two NIH Fogarty grants with Wang Honghong as the China Principal Investigator.

“A good beginning is doing half the work.” I am grateful for the training I have received from the Chia Fellowship program. What I have learned through this program increased my interest in clinical research and made it possible to apply for other funds in these areas. Thanks to the Chia Fellowship program, I have gained sufficient resources to begin my project. My papers have been accepted by the American Thoracic Society International meeting as poster presentation in 2012 and 2014.

Since completing my Chia Fellowship, I have been able to observe clinical problems in a different way, and raise more questions and try to answer them. I have paid more attention to the general health and health education of Chinese citizens and tried to improve the diagnostic and therapeutic knowledge of the physicians in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Hunan province.

The Chia Fellowship program served as a bridge to connect my daily work with public health research. I feel that I have changed from being just a physician to being a clinician who also thinks like a researcher.

Cai Shan is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine Pulmonary at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University.

Has participating in the Chia Fellowship program changed the way you think about medicine? In what ways?

9HEALTH PROGRAM

How Grace Notes and Timpani Can Teach You to Detect Abnormal Sounds in the Body Yale-China will convene a conference titled “Looking is Not Seeing and Listening is Not Hearing” at Xiangya School of Medicine from June 4-6, 2014 based on the cross-discipline research of Yale professors Linda H. Pellico from Yale School of Nursing and Thomas C. Duffy from the Yale School of Music. The report below describes the research that serves as the basis for the conference. Yale-China believes that presenting this research at Xiangya may yield significant results. In the next issue of the Yale-China Review, we will share results from the conference.

Most people are happy to tell you the name of their current favorite song. If you prod them, some will sing a few bars of the chorus or verse of the song. Even if they are in a crowded mall full of random sounds, ears will immediately prick up when those first familiar notes cut through the cacophony.

But imagine if the only way that you had ever heard this favorite song was to have a professor lecture to you about the song: its pitch, its time signature, its rhythm, its chord progressions, and so on. After the lecture, would it be possible to identify the song when you actually heard it? Some especially conceptual attendees may be able to identify the piece, but for the vast majority, identification would be quite difficult.

It is just this sort of scenario that medical researchers have been challenging in recent years. The challenge for medical educators has been to train medical professionals in successful techniques of observation and auscultation (listening to body sounds) so that they will correctly identify patient abnormalities.

Linda H. Pellico and Thomas C. Duffy are unlikely collaborators: Pellico is an associate professor of nursing at Yale, Duffy a professor of music at Yale. A number of years ago, Pellico had used visual training in museums to increase the ability of nurse trainees to attend to and identify elements in visual examinations of patients. The success of that research in increasing participants’ observational abilities made her think that similar musical training would benefit practitioners in discriminating physical sounds. Through a number of contacts, Pellico found in Duffy someone who was interested in developing this kind of cross-disciplinary approach.

As the researchers examined medical literature for work on training of medical professionals in this area of observations, several issues emerged. First, physical assessment training of course takes place, but it is primarily didactic; in other words, the training is lecture-based. Second, research has found that doctors and nurses only physically assess about half of their patients, and use only a fraction of the assessment skills in which they had been “trained.” Attempts at museum-based visual

training, rather than simple lecture, to aid pre-practice nurses and doctors to identify physical issues in diagnosis was highly successful. However, there was no similar research in auditory training to identify, for example, heart sounds, bowel sounds, and lung sounds, a skill called auscultation. Thus the purpose of their research was “to develop a creative, yet practical, method for teaching auscultation” (Duffy, Pellico, Fennie & Swan, 2013, p. 235).

In their study, the researchers enrolled 78 students from an accelerated master’s program for non-nursing college graduates to receive either music auditory training (MAT)—the new pedagogical method—or traditional assessment training (TAT) during their first week of nursing school. The subjects were divided at random among the two groups, and were given a pretest. “The pretest consisted of identifying which organ was associated with specific body sounds, as well as interpretation of 25 sounds (lung, heart, bowel)” (Duffy, Pellico, et al, p. 236). After the pretest, TAT participants received lectures, a medical-surgical nursing course which included descriptions of auscultative abnormalities, and 180 hours of supervised clinical experience. MAT participants also participated in the same lectures, courses, and clinical experiences, but also “were exposed, during a two-hour session, to music created by the second author that replicated the aural phenomena of the body’s sounds, specifically heart, lung, and bowel sounds” (p. 236). The sounds were presented along with visual notational diagrams of each sound’s rhythm, articulation, speed and volume. The participants were coached through musical tasks that made them discriminate between various frequencies, volumes, and rhythms; moreover, participants received training in distinguishing measures of frequency, volume, and rhythm. Finally, because nursing

students are typically taught sounds in isolation, a “masking exercise” was conducted to help participants to identify specific sounds within a field of other sounds. The results of the study were extremely positive. The participants in the MAT group correctly identified organ sounds at a much higher rate than those in the TAT group, and they were also able to discriminate specific sounds far more successfully (see Tables 1-3). To be fair, all participants in the study increased in their abilities to correctly identify the source of body sounds, and specific kinds of sounds. However, on most measures the MAT participants increased their proficiency at a higher rate than participants who only received the TAT training.

The idea of being able to hear and identify a song only from lectures about that song strikes most of us as rather odd. It makes far more sense for teachers to use the song itself to teach about the song. The importance the current study lies in the statistically positives outcomes that a small, creative curricular intervention can have in a pre-professional preparation program: it is remarkable to think that a two-hour training program could lead to significant increases in the abilities of the participants to discriminate body sounds. But this is exactly what happened. Because “the skill of physical examination is multisensory, curricula that enhances the skills of observing, touching, and hearing logically have potential for improved competency”(p. 238).


10 ARTS PROGRAM

Linda H. Pellico and visiting students from Xiangya School of Medicine visit the Yale Center for British Art for the first phase of training. To learn more about this conference, visit www.yalechina.org


A few years ago, I taught in a rural high school in Anhui Province and among the unforgettable people I met in the community was a student named Vera. She was one of the few lucky enough to take private singing lessons, and I quickly learned that her dream—the kind you think about day and night—was to become a singer. We learned a few songs together with what we had: a borrowed ukulele, chords printed from the internet, her voice, and a classroom. She breathed Western pop music, and she idolized Selena Gomez, one of the Disney Channel superstars. The dream itself is not surprising, but I was interested in why there was no mention of her own culture’s traditional music or any popular icon from her home country.

Cultural evolution is organic and willed by the people. Music, for example, is one element of a people’s cultural heritage. In the U.S., we value and conserve a traditional canon in music through entities in education (such as conservatories), in the state (such as the National Endowment of the Arts), in civil society (such as Los Angeles Philharmonic), and elsewhere. Besides preserving an incredible body of work through regular renderings of the classical repertoire, artists also charge themselves with creating new works for their audiences. Works such as John Cage’s 4’33” and the many pieces of P.D.Q. Bach critically reflect on or satirize the traditional canon, provoking controversy and amusement. As Western classical music has evolved, other musical forms grew alongside the classical tradition such as jazz and contemporary pop music. Change is natural. When willed by the people, art evolves.

Everywhere I go, the people of China never miss an opportunity to tell foreigners about China’s 5,000-year history and the strength of its culture. This nationalistic attitude was applied to the arts in 2012 when former president Hu Jintao wrote an essay condemning the influx of Western cultural influences, such as Lady Gaga and Hollywood, in China.

But how has Chinese music evolved over the last century—or even the last thousand years? Chinese opera, for one, flourished in many regions throughout China and became popular among millions when these ancient operas were revived on TV. But certain aspects are unchanged today. What happens when one of the dominant indigenous forms of Chinese musical entertainment is a thousand-year-old tradition that thrives on ancient theatrical practices, including fixed choreography?

In mainland China today on iPods, on billboards, in ads, and as the subject of many conversations, I see Beyoncé, Jay Chou, the Taiwanese pop heartthrob, and Andy Lau, Canto-pop singer and Hong Kong film star, to name just a few of the many famous figures outside the Mainland. I wonder where the new music is from mainland China. With no culture of taking in shows at the theater or concert hall (because they did not exist thirty years ago), the Chinese people are desperate for new music and new art.

This tension is unique. The Chinese people thirst for new music and have great pride in their culture, but are struggling to establish their own voice, especially with the expectation of the people’s ability to compete in the international arena. This conflict brings to mind the identity struggle that British composers experienced in the face of the illustrious French, Germans, and Italians who led the classical Western canon for centuries. But at least the British were operating within a Western cultural context. Today, the Chinese struggle between reviving their static traditional music and importing the music and musical styles of the West. On the international stage, “creativity” is defined largely in Western framework. What then is creativity in the Chinese context?

Intriguing answers are beginning to emerge from the people. Chinese artists are best equipped to answer the question of how creativity is manifest among the Chinese people, and as a result, challenge some of the

international norms established by Western schools of thought. A remarkable opportunity to learn from each other awaits Chinese and Americans. Yale-China today is addressing this opportunity not by exporting U.S. cultural practices into China, but rather by nurturing some of the dormant talent that Hu Jintao and millions of Chinese know exists, but claim is not strong enough on the global stage. Chinese artists like Tan Dun are exploring creativity with Chinese characteristics, finding new ways to highlight Chinese musical forms and texts, bringing uniquely Chinese elements, such as nu shu secret women’s language, to a wider world, enriching everyone in the process.

Art is a humanizing force that communicates what words and prejudices cannot. The desire to effect creative, better futures is a fundamental passion of the people. We instinctively want to recognize humanity in each other. Vera and I accepted one another through singing Selena Gomez, of all sources, and because of that experience, we opened the door to each other’s praises and dissents, transcending borders and biases, and modeling active, constructive dialogue. When I think about Vera sitting in a classroom with a stack of fifty textbooks atop her wooden desk vocalizing in her head and dreaming of the melodies she might share with the world, I know she’s not thinking about strengthening Chinese “cultural security” or “soft power.” And yet, if I may suggest, Vera could be what President Hu envisioned—a native artist competing in the international arena, symbolizing China’s evolving cultural civilization.

Cultural Evolution: Selena Gomez, Tan Dun, and Vera

After graduating from Yale College with a B.A. in Music, Annie Lin taught in Yale-China’s classroom at Xiuning Middle School for two years. As a Yale-China Teaching Fellow, Annie witnessed her students’ growing interest in arts expression alongside their focused acquisition of English language skills. In 2012, Annie joined Yale-China as its Senior Program Officer of Arts. By interviewing over 150 artists, art administrators, gallery owners, and arts advocates, Annie has worked with Yale-China trustees, staff, and Yale professors of art to develop a pilot arts fellowship that will cultivate cross-cultural fluency among Chinese and American artists through a residency in New Haven. In her short piece below, Annie shares her perspective on the importance of understanding creativity in the context of local culture.

Annie Lin, Senior Program Officer, Arts

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LunarfestOn February 1, 2014, to bring in the Year of the Horse, Yale-China partnering with the New Haven Museum and the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale, brought two Chinese lions of the Wan Chi Ming Hung Gar Institute to the streets of New Haven. The dancing troupe wove down Whitney Avenue, displaying a mastery of martial arts and acrobatics and bringing good fortune to the doorsteps and kitchens of merchants. Special guest Mayor Toni Harp, the Repertory Dance Company of ECA, ribbon dancers of the Southern Connecticut Chinese School, and the Yale Wushu team joined over 1,000 revelers to celebrate the lunar new year.

Nu Shu by Tan Dun

An excerpt of Tan Dun’s latest orchestral piece, Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women debuted at Yale-China’s Conference on the Changing Role of Women in Modern China on April 14, 2014. Tan Dun’s adapted arrangement of harp solo, narration, and microfilms illuminated a unique aspect of a small village in China. The composition focuses on a village in Hunan Province where mothers pass down a secret language to their daughters, known as nu shu. Philadelphia Orchestra harpist Elizabeth Hainen, who premiered the piece in the U.S., narrated eloquently while providing pitch perfect harmonization with the microfilms of the village, captured by Tan Dun.

Fusing Arts and Medicinal EducationA recent research discovery at Yale utilizes training through visual art and music in medical education, amplifying the natural skills of young nurses and doctors to better detect abnormalities, such as skin, heart, and lung diseases. Yale-China collaborates with Xiangya School of Medicine in Changsha to host Professors Linda H. Pellico, Yale School of Nursing, and Thomas C. Duffy, Yale School of Music, for a conference from June 4-6, 2014. The conference will bring together health professionals and students to discuss innovative ideas of interdisciplinary collaboration. As a completely new area of study, this collaboration not only advances the research with a cultural variable to test, but it also expands the reach of both institutions to include synergistic programs. Through this cutting edge experience, Yale-China explores a unique approach to connecting Chinese and Americans, and the underlying objective of this experience promotes tapping into creativity as a means to bicultural fluency. For more on this initiative, see page 10.

Arts EducationYale-China Teaching FellowshipYale-China welcomes the following Yale College graduates to the Fellowship for two-year appointments at our partner sites: Yali Middle School: Cory Combs (TD ’14) and Brendan Ross (BK ’13) New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong: Kerri Lu (PC ’14) and Arielle Stambler (MC ’14)Xiuning Middle School: Megan Jenkins (SY ’14) and Katie Stewart (JE ’14) Lingnan College, Sun Yat-sen University: Maggie Neil (ES ’14) and Daniel Sisgoreo (BK ’14)Yale-China bids a fond farewell to LONG Chuan and DENG Haihui, the inaugural Yale-China Teaching Fellows in New Haven.

Yale-China/Lingnan Symposium 2014 Social Entrepreneurship Yale-China hosted the third Symposium on Global Leadership from February 11-15, 2014. Twenty-four Lingnan College students traveled to New Haven to participate in seminars and workshops on social entrepreneurship. Sixteen Yale students joined them for a case competition. Congratulations to Yale participants Nancy Wang (SY ’14) and Rushika Pattni (SY ’15) who will travel to Guangzhou in July to join their winning team for a week-long exploration of social entrepreneurship in China.

Nonprofit Internship Program 2014Seven Yale-China Nonprofit Interns will spend seven weeks working at partner organizations in Hong Kong, as follows:

Helpers for Domestic Helpers: Danielle Feuer (DC ’15)Society for Community Organization: Mingyuan Song (CC ’14)Asian Migrant Centre: Casey McCarthy (ES ’15)Asian Charity Services: Juliet Ryan (BK ’16) and Michael Marcel (ES ’16)Children’s Medical Foundation: Jie Ren (BK ’16)The Women’s Foundation: Jessica Gao (TD ’17)

The program will culminate with a week of joint service in Hong Kong in partnership with seven students from the Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University.

Community Service Exchange 2014Six Yale-China Community Service Exchange Interns will work at local nonprofit organizations focusing on AIDS/HIV prevention, education, and mental health in New Haven in June and Hong Kong in July. AIDS/HIV prevention: Cynthia Chan (Yale SM ‘15) and Vanessa Lee (New Asia Law/3) will intern at Leeway in New Haven and Red Ribbon Centre in Hong Kong. Education: Will Viederman (Yale PC ‘17) and Alex Chu (New Asia Law/2) at New Haven Reads and New Asia Middle School in Hong Kong. Mental Health Team: Yingjie Wang (Yale BK ‘17) and Tracy Choi (New Asia Medicine/2) will intern at Marrakech, Inc. in New Haven and New Life in Hong Kong.


12 UPDATES

The cast of Xiuning Middle School’s The Lion King.


CommunityYale-China ConferenceFrom Secret Language to Modern Voices: Changing Role of Women In Modern China

April 14, 2014 This one-day gathering showcased the progress of women in China’s modern history and presented opportunities to discuss the salient topics facing women in China today. The complexities for women in a rapidly-changing China are immense and difficult to assess, but trends have surfaced. The conference featured a keynote luncheon performance with Elizabeth Hainen (harp) performing Tan Dun’s Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women. The one-day conference: 1) provided a cross-section of constituency groups to come together and bridge the U.S.-China divide; 2) provided a unique and rich cultural experience through the performance of Tan Dun’s Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women; and 3) explored three critical areas of importance for all women—healthcare, society, and leadership.

Fireside Chat SeriesStephen Roach, Senior Fellow, Yale University Jackson Institute of Global AffairsFebruary 24, 2014 Yale-China was fortunate to receive a hot-off-the press conversation with Professor Stephen Roach who discussed his new book

Unbalanced: The Codependency of America and China. He highlighted the conflicts at the center of current tensions, including disputes over trade policies and intellectual property rights, sharp contrasts in leadership styles, the role of the Internet, the recent dispute over cyberhacking, and other concerns.

Carola McGiffert, President, 100,000 Strong FoundationFebruary 18, 2014 Carola McGiffert, President of the 100,000 Strong Foundation, provided an update on the initiative in the midst of its first year as a standalone non-profit organization. Yale-China is one of ten signature 100,000 Strong partners. Carola was previously a Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

at the US Department of State, where she served as the director of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, a presidential effort to increase the number and diversity of Americans who study in China. During Carola’s visit, she also engaged Yale-China’s 100,000 Strong Student Ambassadors from Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School and Metropolitan Business Academy in New Haven.

Medical Student ExchangesEight Yale medical students traveled to Changsha, Hunan Province from March 24 to April 18, for month long clinical rotations at Xiangya School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals. Five Xiangya School of Medicine students also came to Yale School of Medicine for month long clinical rotations from April 21 to May 16.

Residency Training The Yale-China Association hosted a seven member delegation from Central South University and Xiangya’s affiliated hospitals from April 6-15, headed by Dr. CHEN Fangping, President of the Third Xiangya Hospital in Changsha. The delegation members worked with Yale-China health program staff and faculty from Yale School of Medicine on residency training related work, which has been ongoing for the past seven years. The group also attended the Northeastern Group on Educational Affairs (NEGEA) Annual Retreat, hosted by Yale School of Medicine from April 11-12. The delegation members presented one oral talk and four posters at this medical education conference.

Upcoming EventsAugust 1, 2014 – January 31, 2015Yale-China welcomes the new group of 2014-2015 Chia Fellows, who will be studying at Yale University for six months. Each Chia Fellow will work with a Yale faculty to develop a public or community health research project that will be implemented in China. Two Chia Fellows are from Central South University in Changsha and two are from Kunming Medical University in Kunming. This year’s Chia Fellows come from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including a nursing faculty at Xiangya School of Nursing in Changsha (MAO Ting), a physician from Xiangya Hospital in Changsha (ZHOU Xiongwen), a public health faculty from Kunming Medical University School of Public Health (HE Liping), and a physician from the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University (FAN Jinghua).

October 18, 2014 Xiangya School of Medicine 100th Anniversary Celebration. For more information, please visit the official centennial celebration website (Chinese only): www.xysm.csu.edu.cn/xy100/Default.aspx

Health

Carola McGiffert (center) with Yale-China 100,000 Strong Student Ambassadors.

Visiting students to Yale School of Medicine from Xiangya School of Medicine (l. to r.) XIAO Yinzong, a 5th year student in infectious diseases and LIN Feng, an 8th year student in psychiatry.

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In MemoriamA Personal TributeMy Days with Dr. Sherwin NulandBy Kevin Wang

At 7:30 pm one Tuesday evening, I received a call. “Hello Kevin, this is Dr. Nuland. I wanted to tell you, I just finished reading your term paper, and it is absolutely wonderful! I wanted to call at the height of my excitement and ask for your permission to share it with a few of my colleagues.” I was at a loss for words. Only three hours after I had submitted my paper, Sherwin Nuland, a National Book Award-winning author and renowned surgeon, had called me, a measly college freshman, on a weekday evening to tell me that he enjoyed reading my essay.

Three months later, Dr. Nuland died. That Tuesday night phone call is the last conversation I will ever have with him. I had only just become acquainted with someone I knew I could trust as my close mentor and friend, and he was suddenly gone. The image of him seated directly across from me in our classroom and the sound of his weighty voice weaving out stories of medical history were still so vivid in my mind, as if I had been in his presence only yesterday.

Dr. Nuland passed away in his home in Hamden, Connecticut on March 3, 2014 after a battle with prostate cancer. In his enriched and fulfilling 83 years of life, he practiced surgery for 30 years before retiring to write books like How We Die, a national bestseller that demystified the true nature and process of death. This book received the National Book Award in 1994. Dr. Nuland also taught the Yale College freshman seminar History of Scientific Medicine, through which I came to know him.

On the first day of class, Dr. Nuland told us one rule: “You can interrupt me all you want, but you must not interrupt each other.” For him, teaching was not a one-directional stream of information from authority to pupil. Rather, teaching was collaboration between equal minds united in the quest for truth. He advised us to be grateful and humble everyday, constantly reminding us, “For each one of you Yalies, there are two others who could do the same work and have the same qualifications, but who were not accepted here.”

Dr. Nuland was also an excellent storyteller. He related to me the pride of Galen, the empathy of Ambroise Parè, and the misery of Semmelweis. He also recounted the way he would run from the Yale-New Haven Hospital to the Yale Medical Historical Library in between surgery shifts to write his books. Not only did he tell these stories with eloquence, but he also taught us a deeper lesson with each one. As we learned about the lives of the medical greats, he emphasized the importance of writing things down, an act that often determined whether or not a figure would have a place in history bibliotheca.

Dr. Nuland’s love for the English language emanated through his speech as much as it did through his passion for writing and storytelling. He taught me the importance of understanding the nature and necessity of every spoken word. I remember him catching me using the word “like” in the middle of my sentences, asking me what I meant by “William Harvey discovered ‘like’ circulation of the blood.” He spoke slowly and deliberately, making sure his every word was genuine and true to its meaning.

One of Dr. Nuland’s most valuable lessons came as he was praising the vision of physician-statesman Rudolf Virchow. He told me, “For as long as you live, even when you’re 80 years old, always stay dissatisfied with the status quo.” For him, this meant teaching a group of freshmen the history of medicine, advocating for bioethics, and writing books to share his knowledge and wisdom with others. For him, sitting by the fireplace and watching the world go by was never an option, even 20 years into his retirement.

From spending a semester with him, all I saw in Dr. Nuland was kindness, knowledge, and strength. Occasionally, I would catch glimpses of his extraordinary fortitude — he would always choose to best the stairs of Harkness Hall rather than submit to the comfort of the elevator, refuse to let me help him carry his bag, and climb the stairs with a piercing determination in his eyes.

What I didn’t know about Dr. Nuland was that his strength and kindness emerged from his experiences with the worst of the human condition. It was not until after his death that I learned of his childhood, the many crosses of guilt and shame he bore throughout his life, and his calamitous struggle against depression and suicide.

The 12 weeks of class I had with Dr. Nuland were indeed an experience that left me wishing I could have had more time with him, but he would have wanted me to remember these words of his: “It is death that drives evolution.” For him, death marked a beginning, and as one of the last students he ever taught, I have felt the blazing warmth of his legacy light up the wick of my passion, just as it has for thousands in the past and will for many more to come.

Kevin Wang is a freshman in Ezra Stiles College who plans to major in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. This summer he will be studying Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University under the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program at Yale. He is interested in the intersection between eastern and western medicine and plans to research this area further during his Yale time. He also serves as Copy Editor for Yale Scientific magazine, in which this piece was originally published.

Dr. Sherwin Nuland served as a Yale-China Trustee from 1988-1994.

Dr. Nuland was a kind, humble lover of humanity who wrote books and taught the History of Scientific Medicine seminar in Yale College after he retired from the practice of surgery. Image Courtesy of Prose Blog.


14 IN MEMORIAM

Education was the original mission of the Yale-China Association at its founding in 1901, and that tradition continues to this day through a variety of programs. The most well-known of these programs is the Yale-China Teaching Fellowship, through which hundreds of Yale graduates since 1909 have taken on two-year teaching appointments in China. Over the decades, we have continually updated our programs to adapt to changing conditions in China and in the United States, but at its core our work has always remained true to the values of service, learning, and deep understanding.

Yale-China has been engaged with health education in China since the early years of the 20th century when we founded medical institutions in Hunan province that remain major centers of medical education and care to this day. Current initiatives include work in nursing education, fellowships for Chinese women in the health professions, community outreach, medical student exchange, residency training, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, research ethics, and scholarship for medical students at Xiangya School of Medicine.

While Yale-China’s historical roots lie in health and education programs, Yale-China has provided countless opportunities for communities in China to learn about Western arts as well as opportunities for communities in the United States to explore Chinese arts. In keeping true to its mission, Yale-China is currently researching the needs of artists with an emphasis on arts education and cross-cultural exchange. With the support of arts patrons and new donors, Yale-China is able to implement arts initiatives that feature cross-cultural collaboration among artists.

ArtsHealthEducation

YALE-CHINA ASSOCIATION

ABOUT THE YALE-CHINA ASSOCIATION

Founded in 1901, the Yale-China Association is a private, nonprofit organization with more than a century of experience building relations at the grassroots level between the U.S. and China.

MISSION The Yale-China Association (雅礼协会) inspires people to learn and serve together. Founded in 1901 by graduates of Yale University, we foster long-term relationships that improve education, health, and cultural understanding in China and the United States.

VISION We envision a U.S.-China relationship of mutual understanding and profound respect nurtured by collaboration among individuals and institutions.

VALUES Mutual Respect: We value direct personal relationships and two-way exchanges characterized by mutual benefit, independence, trust, and understanding.

Personal Growth and Responsibility: We encourage participants and program alumni to become leading contributors to a more peaceful, just and sustainable world.

Program Focus: Relevance, Excellence, Impact, Innovation: We focus our work on regions and sectors where there is great need. We seek to implement high-quality programming with long-term impact and significant cross-cultural interchange.

www.yalechina.org十年树木百年树人 It takes 10 years to grow a tree, but 100 years to cultivate a person.

A D D R E S S S E R V I C E R E Q U E S T E D

Yale-China AssociationPO Box 208223New Haven, CT 06520-8223 USA

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAID

New Haven, CT

Permit No. 133

Challenging the commercialization of arts is a priority

九Medical residency model program

十

一“[It reassures me] to know that when diplomatic relations…[are] fraught, organizations like Yale-China are out there

building relationships on the ground, person-to-person.” — The late Ambassador James R. Lilley, June 2008

At one of our sites,

over 60% of students are “left behind”

八

七Partnering to

address PM 2.5 is of critical importance

六The legacy of

Maude Pettus, head nurse at

Xiangya, 1930s

五More than

8,000 young people touched

each year

四A proud

100,000 Strong Signature Partner

三100+ experts

work each day on Yale-China

programs

二Training-the-trainer

is always the objective

TEN REASONSto consider a gift

to the Yale-China Association

www.yalechina.org

yale-china review spring 2014

Documents

greater china

mention of china

china relationship

wartorn china

yalechina friend

senior program officer

china officejonathan

xiangya school of medicine