China Medical Board and Peking Union Medical College: A Chronicle of Fruitful Collaboration 1914-1951

Abstract

For nearly three decades, from 1921-1951, the Peking Union Medical College was considered by many the most prominent institution of medical learning in the Far East. Founded and supported by the China Medical Board and the Rockefeller Foundation, it introduced into China very high standards of medical science and teaching. This book, which most interestingly details the history of PUMC, spans the years and events from World War I to the founding of the People's Republic in China and the subsequent loss of PUMC to American medical influence. It actually took nearly 30 years, a world war, and a major revolution in China for the hopes of the founder, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., that it become a fully Chinese institution, to be fulfilled. However, rather than being gradually taken over by the Chinese in cooperation with the representatives of Western science, the college was abruptly nationalized in January 1951. This