We founded the International Exchange Center within graduate school of health sciences in April of 2016 with the aim of producing highly-educated health care providers with global perspectives, who are able to function internationally. At the Center, we promote overseas training for our undergraduate students, host an increasing number of exchange or international students that we welcome from abroad, and support exchange programs with foreign medical institutions and researchers.

For Singapore, we signed an international exchange agreement with the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore in 2016, and we have started nursing student exchange. In June, of 2016, we welcomed the first four students from Singapore to train at our university. In March of 2017, four nursing students from our university visited Singapore. Since then, we continue students exchange every year. Academia exchange as international collaborative research has also been conducted since 2013.

For Thailand, we signed an international exchange agreement with the Chiang Mai University in 2018, and the Suranaree University of Technology in 2019, and we have started student exchange. For Chiang Mai University, our occupational therapy and physiotherapy students visit them every year since 2019. For the Suranaree University of Technology, nursing students from each institution visit to other every year since 2019. Academia exchange as international collaborative research has also been conducted since 2013.

We hope that the Center will continue to serve as an effective tool for promoting international exchange by developing partnerships to create new destinations for training abroad, by hosting foreign exchange students, by promoting international joint research and by hosting international symposia and conferences.

Sachiko Makabe, R.N., Ph.D.
Director, International Exchange Center
Yu Kume, Ph.D
Deputy Director