馬偕醫學院 Mackay Medical College
Institute of Long-Term Care
Features of the Department

Founded in 2009, we provide students with holistic medical education of “integrated healing of body, mind, and spirit” based on the education goal of “inheriting MacKay’s spirit and cultivate future extraordinary doctors.” Integrated with MMH’s existing clinical medicine, research, and teaching abilities, the MacKay spirit has been passed down and practices, cultivating medical students with the following five basic qualities and seven core competencies to become medical professionals who respect lives.

Basic qualities Core competencies
1. Respect the Divine, be altruistic, and humble. 1. The ability to serve the weak and the disadvantaged.
2. Social accountability and environmental care. 2. The ability to care for mankind and environments.
3. Teamwork with communication and negotiation. 3. The ability of life-long updates of medical information.
4. Life-long learning with an international vision. 4. The ability of communication and collaboration.
5. Care the disadvantaged with holistic medicine. 5. The ability of critical thinking and self-reflection.
6. The ability of internationalization and the pursue of extraordinariness.
7. The ability of teaching, research, and innovating.

The MMC's medical education training consists of a double-spiral structured teaching model by using modules and the PBL (problem-based learning) method integrated with the medical humanistic spirit of “knowing yourself, the people, the Divine, love, and uses” that cares about the weak and disadvantaged. Supported by the clinical medical basis of MMH, the following five features have been developed:

(I) Medical humanistic education from theory to practice

MMC upholds Dr. MacKay's spirit of caring for the weak and disadvantaged, with special emphasis on the cultivation of medical students with medical humanistic spirit. From freshman to the sixth year, students’ humanistic mind will be gradually expanded and deepened with the core educational goals of “knowing yourself, the people, the Divine, love, and uses”, allowing them to learn and respect humankind along the process of medical professional pursuit. Thus, medical education of "holistic medicine" will be attained.

In a school-based education from the first to the fourth year, we emphasize the cultivation of students' independent and pluralistic thinking skills. The clinical education from the fifth to the sixth year emphasizes the connection between theory and practice. Not only do we have “narrative medicine seminars” in the fifth year, allowing the students to understand the whole picture of medicine through real-world narrative interviews, but also have a two-week clerkship of “medicine in Remote Areas”, allowing the students to contact with the medical context in a different life background. This will strengthen their understanding and respect for cultural differences in medicine.

(II) Excellent medical education

We have introduced outstanding teaching methods, such as PBL, CBL (case-based learning), narrative medicine, and OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) training. Dynamic teaching methods have been opted to enhance the positive milieu for small group interactive learning and to emphasize thinking with discussion, debate, and self-reflection. The focus on proactive learning and group interaction, such as the utilization of CACOO platform for PBL, allows all team members to explore and co-plan a conceptual diagram of the teaching case on the internet at the same time.

(III)Teaching-friend relationship

There are approximately 45 new first-year students every year in Department of Medicine, MMC. The relationship between the teachers and the students is quite close due to the class-reduced size. After the commencement of the semester, the Director of MMC would have individual meetings with the new students in order to know about them and learn about their expectations of MMC. With a comprehensive tutor system both in MMC campus and in MMH, all students will be in good hands whether at school or in the hospital. From the first to the fourth year, every campus tutor in the basic medicine coaches an average of 15 students, help them adapt the new environment, adjust the learning ways in college, manage the interpersonal or intimate relationship. Tutors provide the close care and consultation to various problems for tutees. In the clerkship period, the clinical tutor take care of four medical students, providing them close assistance for their clerkship and guidance in their career planning. The tutors, together with the seniors, may provide academic assistance to the junior students in curriculum learnings. The tutors have periodic meetings with the tutees, also attending tutor meetings and teacher-student forums two times every semester. This will fortify the exchanges and connections among students, tutors, and the department as a whole.

(IV) Smooth learning path and career channel

In addition to the establishment of a resourceful foreign language environment, outstanding foreign medical and teaching experts with educational ideals that match with MMC are recruited to increase the chance of proving students with English professional courses. We have signed memorandums with top oversea medical schools and centers, setting long-term clerkship programs. We are still expanding the scope of the regions and nations of these programs. The exchange subsidy is also provided for the students to have exchange learnings, conveying the concept of “borderless medicine” and “world doctor” to the students.

Currently, the MMH has four branches in Taipei, Tamsui, Hsinchu, and Taitung. Many of them are currently undergoing expansion. Our graduate students can enjoy a smooth career and promotion channel. The MMH also offers comprehensive subsidies for advanced studies in the abroad. The MMC founded the Institute of Biomedical Sciences in 2011, the Institute of Long-term Care in 2014, and the Institute of Geriatric Welfare Technology and Science and the doctorate program of Biomedical Medicine in the 2019. Graduate students can choose clinical service or teaching/research as their career priority based on their interests. The seven-year program (six plus one) allows the students to obtain both Bachelor of Medicine and Master of biomedical Medicine.

(V) Distributing medical resources to take care of the weak and disadvantaged

In the service of the weak and disadvantaged is the primary one of the seven core competencies in MMC. With the support of the different MMH branches, students must attend the mandatory course of "Medicine in Remote Areas." Students may choose to Hsinchu MacKay or Taitung MacKay Memorial Hospital for a two-week clerkship so that they can learn about the care of patients in remote areas and the inconvenience to access to medical services; also, they will be able to see clinical cases that are rare in the urban area. Additionally, many MMC students who are already in their clinical practices can choose a mobile medical team organized by MMH to travel to Kiribati, Myanmar, and other underdeveloped countries with the purpose to provide free oversea medical consultation services. Through the medical education and professional career planning in MMC, students are more willing to be in service in remote areas, achieving the goal of balancing medical resources and care for the weak and disadvantaged