In May, Sana Basheer and Fatima Bouftas (Pritzker MD 2026) visited Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) for clinical observation, an important experience in the ongoing exchange efforts supported by the Provost Faculty Global Award (PGFA).
Coordinated through UChicago WUMER Project, the UChicago Beijing Center and PUMCH’s Education Office, Sana and Fatima observed across multiple specialties, including Orthopedics, Plastic Surgery, General Surgery, and Anesthesiology. Their experience went beyond OR observation: they also shadowed in clinics, participated in morning handoffs, joined rounds, and attended department chair meetings. This comprehensive immersion helped them see how clinical care and medical education unfold together in a high-volume, multidisciplinary setting.
The clinical exchange continues to leave a lasting impact. In Sana’s reflective writing, she shares that the experience deepened her understanding of how healthcare systems shape both patients and clinical expertise. She writes, “Observing surgeons care for patients from across China helped me appreciate the importance of access to care, interdisciplinary thinking, and continuous learning.”
Sana also notes the learning effect of scale: the volume of cases allowed her to encounter conditions with frequency and severity that are often less common in the United States. She observed complex procedures, such as the Whipple procedure, performed multiple times in a single day, while also witnessing a strong culture of learning, where evidence and education were woven directly into day-to-day decision-making.
Through PGFA-supported exchanges like this one, clinical learners gain perspective not only on medicine, but on how systems, access, and interdisciplinary collaboration shape clinical practice.
Thank you to our partners at UChicago Beijing Center and PUMCH for making these impactful learning experiences possible.
