title: High altitude medicine education in China: exploring a new medical education reform.
abstract: China has the largest plateau in the world, which includes the whole of Tibet, part of Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Sichuan. The plateau area is about 257.2×10(4) km(2), which accounts for about 26.8% of the total area of China. According to data collected in 2006, approximately twelve million people were living at high altitudes, between 2200 to 5200 m high, on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Therefore, there is a need for medical workers who are trained to treat individuals living at high altitudes. To train undergraduates in high altitude medicine, the College of High Altitude Military Medicine was set up at the Third Military Medical University (TMMU) in Chongqing in 1999. This is the only school to teach high altitude medicine in China. Students at TMMU study natural and social sciences, basic medical sciences, clinical medical sciences, and high altitude medicine. In their 5(th) year, students work as interns at the General Hospital of Tibet Military Command in Lhasa for 3 months, where they receive on-site teaching. The method of on-site teaching is an innovative approach for training in high altitude medicine for undergraduates. Three improvements were implemented during the on-site teaching component of the training program: (1) standardization of the learning progress; (2) integration of formal knowledge with clinical experience; and (3) coaching students to develop habits of inquiry and to engage in ongoing self-improvement to set the stage for lifelong learning. Since the establishment of the innovative training methods in 2001, six classes of high altitude medicine undergraduates, who received on-site teaching, have graduated and achieved encouraging results. This evidence shows that on-site teaching needs to be used more widely in high altitude medicine education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathophysiology and High Altitude Physiology, College of High Altitude Military Medicine, and Key Laboratory of High Altitude Medicine, Office of Academic Affairs, Third Military Medical University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yongjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Weiming
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Qiquan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yuqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000531:Altitude; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000628:therapy; D002681:China; D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000628:therapy; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000379:methods*