Southern Medical University, the former First Military Medical University, was founded in October 1951 and notarized as one of the premier medical universities in 1978. The university was handed over to the local government of Guangdong Province and meanwhile renamed as Southern Medial University, in line with the command by the State Department and the Central Military Committee of PLA in August 2004. At present, the university has been authorized by the Department of Education as a key medical university.
Southern Medical University is located at the foot of picturesque Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou. The main campus, together with its south campus in the southern suburb of Guangzhou, covers an area of nearly one million square meters. The university has been awarded the first-class garden-like university, for rows of green trees nourish and bouquets of flowers blossom on the campuses all through a year. Southern Medical University has established a complete system for fostering talent candidates of Bachelor's Degree of Medicine (M.B.), Master's Degree of Medicine (M.M.) and Doctoral Degree of Medicine (M.D.), with eight academic fields covering medicine, technology, science, law, management, arts, pedagogy and economics. The university system comprises 7 affiliated hospitals and 16 schools or colleges such as school of basic medicine, school of clinical medicine, school of biomedical engineering, school of Chinese traditional medicine (TCM) and school of public health. Apart from offering 23 majors for undergraduates, the university grants M.M. degree in 55 subjects, M. D. degree in 36 subjects as well as in another 4 first-class subjects, even with 4 academic stations for postdoctoral research. Besides, the university houses a group of state-level key subjects, key subjects by the State Management Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, state-level base of clinical pharmacology and state-level base of TCM pharmacology. The university has developed a superior subjects group, with medical science as a backbone and with combination of medicine and engineering, combination of Western and Chinese medicines, tropical medicine and bio-high-tech as supportive subjects.
Southern Medical University owns its full infrastructure. The total asset of the university amounts to 4.000 billion Yuan. The informationalized teaching facility has built its ground on the abundant teaching buildings housing all kinds of teaching rooms and medical laboratories which are equipped with air conditioners, connected to Internet and even electronically integrated. The student's apartments with 4 beds in a room accommodating 15,000 students are also equipped with telephone sets and even linked to Internet. Besides, there is a football ground covered with artificial grass, a plastic-tracked ground and a standard swimming pool in the university. Up till now, the library of Southern Medical University has a book collection of 1 million volumes as well as a total number of 100,000 volumes of 2,300 Chinese and foreign periodicals.
Southern Medical University goes strong in teaching and scientific research. By now the university has gained 1 first-grade prize and 2 second-grade prizes of State Excellent Teaching Achievement Award, plus 7 first-grade prizes of Military Excellent Teaching Achievement Award. The university is ranked on the top among the medical universities and colleges in China in view of the number of research projects and the prizes.
Southern Medical University flourishes along with its handover from the military system to the civilian one. Its 7 affiliated hospitals are Nanfang Hospital, Zhujiang Hospital, Hua'nan Hospital, Nanhua Hospital, Stomatology Hospital, Pingxiang Hospital and Jiangdu Hospital, 6 of which have been appraised as “First-Class Hospitals at Grade III”. The hospitals have gained superiority and developed their own distinctive features in diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases, haematology, cardiology, neuromedicine, nephrology, organ transplantation, microsurgery, orthopaedics, combined therapies of carcinomas and rescue of neonatal severe diseases. Buildings has gained its reputation in China and South-east Asia and was conferred the honorary title of “Model Medical Faculty: Department of Hui Qiao Buildings” by the Central Military Committee of PLA, for up to now it has treated over 80,000 patients from 85 countries or regions.
In academic exchanges, the university has invited and employed more than 100 experts and scholars known in China or internationally, as honorary professors or visiting professors and meanwhile carried out cooperative research and academic exchanges with the universities or institutes in more than 30 countries or regions like the United States, Britain, Japan, France and Australia and Hong Kong. At present, the university has admitted international students from more than 20 countries. Besides, the university is expanding such programs as mutual visits of faculties and exchanges of students with foreign academic institutions.