At its inception, Kaohsiung Medical University not only consisted of
Schools of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy, but also established
the “Medical Program for Indigenous Physicians” in 1958 to train
local medical personnel for service in rural areas with inadequate
access to healthcare. In 1982, the Post-Baccalaureate Medical
Program was introduced to nurture physicians with more diverse
professional backgrounds. Today, KMU has developed into a
comprehensive medical university with a solid organization
and world-class faculty. It has also expanded to consist of
seven colleges: College of Medicine, College of Dentistry,
College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, College of Health
Sciences, College of Life Science, and College of Humanities and
Social Sciences. In addition, it manages four reputable teaching
hospitals that offer comprehensive and humanitarian healthcare
to the people of southern Taiwan: Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital,
Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital, Kaohsiung Municipal
Ta-Tung Hospital, and Kaohsiung Municipal Cijin Hospital.
Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, located on campus, is particularly
notable for being the largest teaching and research hospital
in the South.
In the past, when Taiwan’s public health system was still in the
early stages of development, trachoma and malnutrition often
caused people to suffer from corneal damage or blindness. With
help and support from Dr. Jhen-Wu Chen and the International
Red Cross (IRC), Taiwan’s first eye bank was established at
Kaohsiung Medical College in 1963, marking a milestone in the
development of corneal transplant in Taiwan. Furthermore,
owing to Kaohsiung’s unique geological location between the
tropical and subtropical zones, KMU has been a leading research
institution on tropical medicine and natural pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Chen-Chung Yang’s research on snake antivenin peptides andDr. Sian-Chen Hsieh’s research on parasites, for example, are
highly regarded in their respective fields and are applied to clinical
practice. Moreover, problems regarding occupational injuries and
disease are on the rise as Kaohsiung has become a major industrial
center over time. To address this issue, KMU has promoted research
in the field of occupational therapy, quickly becoming a leading
authority in the field.
KMU’s core values of “Simplicity, Earnestness, and Emphasis on
Humanistic Concern” is reflected in its service to the public. There
are many aboriginal tribes located in the Kaohsiung-Pintung area
that have inadequate access to medical resources. Since1997,
Kaohsiung Medical University hospitals have sent medical
representatives to the indigenous tribes and collaborated with local
healthcare bureaus to offer medical treatment to the inhabitants
there. The service puts the idea of “Promoting Equality of
Healthcare” into concrete action.
Since the establishment of KMU, the university has made caring
for and serving disadvantaged groups one of the main missions of
medical education. After years of cultivation, 26 alumni have won
national medical contribution awards, the greatest number of
winners among medical universities in Taiwan. In terms of
international medical contribution, KMU-affiliated institutions
have participated in international humanitarian aid activities such as
providing emergency aid to the Solomon Islands and post-disaster
aid in the aftermaths of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2010
Haitian earthquake, the 2010 Yushu earthquake, and the 2011
Japanese tsunami, donating medical supplies and sending medical
personnel. In addition, KMU’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital is
entrusted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to direct the
“Taiwan Public Health Center in the Solomon Islands” and
provide medical personnel to carry out public hygiene and
medical skill exchange projects. These contributions validate
KMU’s long-term investment in medical education and its
dedication to social responsibility.
Kaohsiung Medical University is the only medical university
to have all of its departments pass the five criteria of school
evaluation (only one other university passed this evaluation.) This
achievement sets a new record in Taiwan’s higher education and
authenticates the high qualifications and self-improving ability of
our administrative affairs. In teaching, the ideas of students as
subjects, teachers as assets, and administration staff as support
personnel have enabled our university to win “The Teaching
Excellence Project” for 8 consecutive years and qualify as a
paragon of teaching by the Ministry of Education.
The rigorous quality of teaching and the healthcare programs have
helped our school pass the TTQS (ISO10015) evaluation set up by
the Council of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan for six consecutive
years and win a bronze medal of TTQS evaluation. The highquality
humanities courses in the Center for Continuing Education
and Social Resources have won Kaohsiung Citizen’s Academy
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KAOHSIUNG
MEDICAL
UNIVERSITY
Award. In research, our university focuses on tropical medicine,
Chinese medicinal herbs, and snake venom.
For past sixty years, the university has undertaken the great
responsibility of providing healthcare and public health services
to the people of southern Taiwan. Because of its long-term study
on environmental medicine in the Kaohsiung district, the university
received a subsidy for developing into an first-rate international
university and the top research center project – Environmental
Medical Research Center from the Ministry of Education and set
up the “Research Center for Environmental Medicine” on August
1st, 2008 to promote interdisciplinary studies on environmental
medicine.
In student affairs, with a view on following the school tradition of
humanitarianism and taking care of underprivileged groups, the
Office of Student Affairs cooperates with the Office of Global
Affairs in instructing students to extend their medical volunteer
service from domestic to remote international areas. From 2007
to the present, with the help of the subsidy from the Teaching
Excellence Project , students selected have been sent to the
Solomon Islands, Republic of Malawi, India, and the Kingdom of
Swaziland to engage in international volunteer services, which are
often awarded by the National Youth Commission, Executive Yuan.
In addition, the university won the National Award for friendly
campus and the certified school of international health and safety
by the WHO in 2012, and the “characteristic school excellence in
moral education” award by the Ministry of Education in 2013.
Over the past six decades, as a result of the dedication of former
university Presidents and support from the Board of Trustees,
KMU currently boasts over 30,000 alumni worldwide who not
only serve the people of Taiwan, but also make contributions to
the people of America, Europe, and Japan, spreading KMU’s core
values and commitment to social responsibility in the process.
The current President of the university, Dr. Ching-Kuan Liu, has
proposed the principle of “I Love KMU” to direct the school’s
future development. This phrase, which stands for “Innovation,
Legislation, Knowledge, Mission, and Universality,” aims to
continue KMU’s proud tradition as a leading medical university
in Taiwan.