Shanghai Second Medical University is planning to expand an exchange program that has allowed 37 of its students to do a one-year internship in France since 1997, the school announced recently.

"The project gives our students and teachers a great opportunity to broaden their views,," said university President Shen Xiaoming.

Shen will visit his French counterparts this week to discuss expanding cooperation and sending more students to France.

The project was launched in 1997, with support form both countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Top French professors are invited to Shanghai to teach medical classes, while top local students get a chance to do an internship in France.

The french government pays for the internships, as part of the seven-year project.

To date, France has spent about US$500,000 to support 37 local students practicing in France, while 81 French teachers have taught classes in Shanghai.

Currently, about 30 students are studying under the French professors at Shanghai Second Medical University every year. The school hopes to have 60 students in the course, which is taught in French, every year in the near future.

Shen says that Chinese medical students don't lag too far behind their Western counterparts, but the practical residencies Westerners must enter are far superior to anything offered in China.

Only a few large training hospitals accept residents in the West, says Shen, but local graduates are given jobs at any hospital.

France has become a top destina-tion for local graduates looking to upgrade their skills abroad, as they are allowed to take part in surgery in France, but banned from doing so in many other countries.

Local health officials said in the near future, nearly half of the top surgeons in the city will have studied or practiced in France, a trend Shen says should benefit French medical and pharmaceutical companies looking to enter the local market.

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