SMU established an inter-collegiate partnership with Japan’s Okayama University (OU) in 2015. According to a cooperative agreement reached by both sides, SMU usually sends some of the outstanding medical students majoring in clinical medicine, basic medicine, public health, Chinese and Western integrative medicine and so forth to visit Japan and conduct a series of exchange activities like, for example, communicating with students at OU, and visiting OU’s key laboratories and hospitals.
It is noteworthy that the program is funded by the Japan-Asian Youth Exchange Program in Science, also known as “Sakura Exchange Program in Science”, sponsored by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The JST-sponsored fund aims to promote youth exchanges in science and technology by inviting outstanding young students in Asia to visit Japan for a short period of time through coordinated efforts among industry, academia and the government.
