Abstract

TMU College of Pharmacy BEST Program Key Achievements

Ⅰ. Features of the BEST Program:

Promoting an all-English learning environment using 7 dimensions: institutional strategy and management, teachers and teaching, students and learning, information to students and the public, quality assurance, sharing and collaboration, and other initiatives for enhancements.

1. Institutional Strategy and Management: The College offers undergraduate EMI Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacy micro-program, international co-teaching courses, and dual-degree programs. 
2. Teachers and Teaching: The proportion of all-English teaching materials reaches 40%, and through the College’s BEST Program teaching incentive policies, teachers are encouraged to offer EMI courses and international co-teaching courses.
3. Students and Learning: Through the College’s BEST Program Scholarship for English Proficiency, students are encouraged to improve their English proficiency to the level of CEFR B2 in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. In addition, the College established an undergraduate English track program.
4. Information to Students and the Public: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and other platforms were established to promote activities and videos of the College’s BEST Program. 
5. Quality Assurance: EMI courses underwent external reviews, observations, and student evaluations to ensure the quality of teaching.
6. Sharing and Collaboration: The College offers co-teaching EMI courses and shares EMI online courses with the members of the Excellent Long-Establishes University Consortium of Taiwan (ELECT).
7. Other Initiatives for Enhancement: The College has held a number of international events and conferences. 

Ⅱ. Key Achievements of the BEST Program:

1. In the Academic Year 2022-2023, the Department of Pharmacy has recruited 30 English track program students.

2. Created 2 All-English Micro-Programs (Pharmaceutical Science, Clinical Pharmacy)

3. Created 5 dual degree programs

4. Provided 4 online English MOOCs Course

• Evidence-Based Medicine in Clinical Pharmacy Practice
• Pharmacotherapy: Understanding Biotechnology Products
• Essentials of Good Pharmacy Practice: The Basics
• Clinical Pharmacokinetics: Dosing and Monitoring

5. Presenting Your Research to the World: 2022 Academic Literacy International Conference

• Date: 05/13/2022
• Agenda:
  • 13:10-14:00   Prof. Pei-Shan Tsai, Ph.D.                    
    How to get your research published (English)    
    How to submit a successful grant application (English)
  • 14:00-14:50   Marcus J. Calkins, Ph.D.  
    Key principles of scientific writing in English (English)

6. TMU Scientific Writing Workshop by Dr. Marcus Calkins

• Date: 05/27/2022, 06/17/2022
• Number of Participants: 20 graduate students for each session (40 in total)
• Syllabus:
  • Characteristics of a scientific paper (Argument structure and evidence)
  • The scientific story (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion)
  • Selected grammar and language usage topics (General principles and common mistakes) 
  • Development of writing skills

7. Specialist Pharmacists in Action: 2022 TMU Pharmacy Summer Program

• Date: 07/11/2022-07/15/2022
• Invited 19 pharmacists from Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare to share their clinical experiences.
• Number of participants: 288
• Satisfactory Survey gained an average 4.56 (on a 5-point scale)

8. International Engagement