After sending students to Beijing and Tokyo the last two years for the International Student Forum, UNMC will get to host the event in 2008.
Sometime next June, about seventy students from The Institute of Medical Science at The University of Tokyo, the Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of California, San Francisco and UNMC will gather in Omaha for the forum.
After attending the previous two forums in Asia, Nathaniel Erdmann, a UNMC M.D./Ph.D. student, said he is excited to show his international colleagues what’s going on in Omaha and at the medical center.
“Next year is a great opportunity for students and the university to represent ourselves to a global audience,” Erdmann said.
The annual forums allow the students to share their research and culture with others from around the globe. In years past, the forum has allowed UNMC students to see what life is like for graduate students in other countries and to make valuable contacts with international students.
Next year, it’s UNMC’s turn in the spotlight, said Jialin Zheng, M.D. associate professor in the UNMC departments of pharmacology/experimental neuroscience and pathology/microbiology and director of the Asia Pacific Rim Development Program (APRDP). The APRDP office coordinates the selection of UNMC forum delegates each year.
“Hosting this forum is an excellent opportunity for UNMC to showcase the world-class work being done on campus and the amazing students who are being educated here,” Dr. Zheng said. “It’s very exciting that we have been asked to host this forum, and this will certainly follow Chancellor Maurer’s mission of establishing UNMC’s reputation as one of the world’s leading institutions for biomedical research, health care and education.”
UNMC Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance Don Leuenberger said he looks forward to showing international colleagues and students what’s going here at the medical center.
“Such forums provide an opportunity to showcase the world-class education, research and clinical facilities we have at UNMC,” Leuenberger said. “I know our international colleagues will find their visit to Omaha and UNMC to be enjoyable and rewarding.”
More about the forum, including exact dates for the forum and delegate application information, will be publicized later in UNMC Today.