Partnering Globally to Educate the Next Generation of Pharmacy Leaders

Program Coordinator:Professor Hsiang-Wen Lin, Associate Dean, College of Pharmacy

The College of Pharmacy at China Medical University (CMU) is redefining what an international summer program can be. Rather than offering a traditional short-term study experience, the Sustainable Development Goals & International Pharmacy Learning Network (SDGs&iPLN) serves as a global co-education platform, where partner universities work together to educate the next generation of pharmacists capable of addressing future healthcare challenges.

Held from July 15–28, 2026, the third SDGs&iPLN program brought together outstanding pharmacy students nominated by partner universities in the United States, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Taiwan. Through English-medium learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, healthcare immersion, and innovation-driven projects, participants developed the professional competencies, intercultural perspectives, and leadership skills required for global pharmacy practice.

Building an International Pharmacy Education Alliance

SDGs&iPLN was founded on a simple yet ambitious vision:The future of pharmacy education should be built together—not institution by institution, but partner by partner. Unlike conventional summer schools that emphasize cultural exposure, SDGs&iPLN is designed as an international alliance for collaborative pharmacy education, enabling partner universities to jointly recruit, educate, mentor, innovate, and inspire future pharmacists. Students are immersed in Taiwan's internationally recognized healthcare system while learning how pharmacy intersects with public health, health policy, social and administrative pharmacy, sustainability, and global health.

Equally important, they establish lasting relationships with faculty members, researchers, practicing pharmacists, and fellow students from around the world—creating an international professional network that extends far beyond the two-week program.

Growing Together with Our International Partners

The 2026 program welcomed 31 pharmacy students from seven partner universities, representing the largest cohort since the program began. Participating institutions included: Hanoi University of Pharmacy (Vietnam), University of Puthisastra (Cambodia), Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (Indonesia), University of Cincinnati (USA), The Ohio State University (USA), University of Southern California (USA), University of Washington (USA). Seventeen CMU pharmacy students also served as English-speaking student ambassadors and teaching assistants, creating an authentic international learning environment where local and international students learned from one another as peers. The continued growth of SDGs&iPLN reflects not only the confidence of our partner universities but also the shared commitment to developing internationally minded pharmacy professionals.

Learning Pharmacy Where Healthcare Happens

Rather than remaining in the classroom, participants explored Taiwan's healthcare ecosystem through visits to leading hospitals, community pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, government agencies, biotechnology facilities, and research institutes. By experiencing healthcare from multiple perspectives, including clinical practice, industry, regulation, and community pharmacy, students gained a comprehensive understanding of Taiwan's healthcare innovations in integrated Chinese and Western medicine, pharmaceutical biotechnology, healthy aging, smart healthcare, community pharmacy services, and health technology assessment. These experiences helped students appreciate how pharmacists contribute across the entire healthcare continuum, not only in hospitals but also in communities, industry, research, and public policy.

Learning Globally, Serving Locally

One of the program's highlights was Community Engagement Day, during which international and CMU pharmacy students worked alongside pharmacists from the Greater Taichung Pharmacists Association and the Taichung Association of National Health Insurance Contracted Pharmacies.

Together they organized Healthy Neighbors in Dongshi: Advancing Food and Medication Safety Together, an interactive health promotion event for older adults. Students designed bilingual educational activities addressing appropriate medication use, healthy nutrition, chronic disease management, medication storage, medication recycling, health promotion. For many international participants, this represented their first experience delivering pharmacy services within a community setting abroad. More importantly, it demonstrated that pharmacists can be educators, advocates, and trusted community partners. The activity embodied the philosophy: Learn Globally. Serve Locally, and transformed the classroom into meaningful community impact.

From Global Challenges to Global Solutions

The program culminated in the Global Pharmacy Innovation Challenge, where multinational student teams collaborated entirely in English to address real-world healthcare problems.

Guided by Design Thinking, the Business Model Canvas, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each team developed a complete innovation proposal, including market analysis, implementation strategies, financial planning, and sustainability assessment.

Projects addressed diverse challenges, including sustainable medication management, improving health literacy, AI-enabled pharmacy services, medication adherence technologies, renewable-energy mobile healthcare. Rather than simply learning about SDGs, students transformed them into practical healthcare innovations capable of creating measurable social impact. The challenge encouraged students to think not only as future pharmacists but also as innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and global healthcare leaders.

Creating Lifelong International Partnerships

The program concluded with student reflections delivered entirely in English. Participants consistently described the greatest outcome not as acquiring knowledge, but as learning to work across cultures, appreciate diverse healthcare systems, and build friendships founded on shared professional values. Many expressed interest in returning to CMU for exchange programs, graduate study, collaborative research, or future professional partnerships. These relationships are exactly what SDGs&iPLN seeks to cultivate—an international network that continues long after the program ends.

Looking Forward: Building the Future of Pharmacy Education Together

Dean Professor Chiung-Tung Chen emphasized that SDGs&iPLN is not simply an English-medium summer program, but a long-term initiative to build sustainable international partnerships in pharmacy education. Program Director Professor Hsiang-Wen Lin, together with Professor Alex Chun-Ching Lin of the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy, University of Cincinnati, faculty members from partner universities, and mentors from academia, healthcare, government, and industry, will continue expanding the SDGs&iPLN network through five collaborative pillars: Co-Recruitment, Co-Learning, Co-Innovation, Co-Service and Co-Research

By strengthening student mobility, faculty exchange, collaborative research, and shared educational innovation, SDGs&iPLN is evolving into an international platform where partner universities learn together, innovate together, and educate together.China Medical University warmly welcomes existing and future partner universities to join the SDGs&iPLN network. Together, we can cultivate globally minded pharmacy leaders, expand international collaboration, and shape the future of pharmacy education. “Think Globally. Learn Collaboratively. Impact Sustainably.”

Exploring the College of Pharmacy at China Medical University through Educational Visits

Lectures, workshops and discussion

Visit or hand-on practicing

國際藥學生社會實踐日

Global Pharmacy Innovation Business Plan Presentation

Certificate Award Ceremony, Business Plan Awards, Most Popular Student Award, and Farewell Reception