Internationalization of medical education in China: An investigation of medical graduates’ global competence and its influencing factors

Abstract

Aim Global competence has become an important competence for medical graduates in the globalized world. However, research on it is scarce. This study was built upon the scholarship published in the field to measure medical graduates’ global competence. Materials and methods A questionnaire was administered to China’s medical graduates sampled from four institutions of medical education. Descriptive statistics were made to analyze the level of medical graduates GC. Influencing factors were investigated using multiple linear regression. Multiple levels of regression analysis were used to identify the influence of different independent variables on the dependent variable. Results The sample had a relatively good level of global competence in general, but lacked skills in cross-cultural communication and international academic communication. “Internationalization Concept and System” and “International Development of Teachers” in the school dimension and “Taking International Courses”, “International Publication” and “Participation in International Conference” in the dimension of individual international involvement had a significant positive impact on the cultivation of global competence. Conclusions The universities should aim for the construction of an effective institutional mechanism for internationalization to help improve students’ global competence.