From August 15 to 19, the Final of the 11th National Undergraduate Medical Innovation Competition and the 2025 "Belt and Road" International Competition was held at Shandong University. Two teams of international students from our university participated in the competition for the first time and achieved outstanding results, winning 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal, marking a historic breakthrough.

The team that won the gold medal was guided by teachers Rong Na and Zhang Di from the School of International Education. Its members included AIMAN SHAFIQ (a Pakistani student of the 2024 cohort), ABRAR ABDUL REHMAN (a Pakistani student of the 2024 cohort), POL SHRUSHTI PRADEEP (an Indian student of the 2024 cohort), and SARO GAHITSI MAEVA CARLA (a Rwandan student of the 2024 cohort). With their project titled "Digital-Driven and Youth Empathy: Innovative Practices in the International Dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine Culture under the Background of the 'Belt and Road' Initiative", the team focused on the practical needs of the international dissemination of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) culture under the "Belt and Road" Initiative. Centering on the two core dimensions of digital technology empowerment and youth empathy, they constructed a three-dimensional communication framework of "digital empowerment - youth co-creation - multilateral collaboration", aiming to break down the barriers in TCM dissemination and promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and other countries. The team deeply integrated digital technology with cross-cultural empathy, and the proposed communication framework featured both innovation and practical feasibility, providing a brand-new approach for the international dissemination of TCM culture. Their cutting-edge perspective and solid demonstration were highly recognized by the judges.

The team that won the bronze medal was guided by teachers Wei Feixue and Zhang Yue from the School of Public Health. Its members were YANG Meizhen (an Indonesian student of the 2021 cohort), WU Guiyu (an Indonesian student of the 2021 cohort), and YOU Bo (a Pakistani student of the 2021 cohort). Their project was titled "Study on the Disease Burden and Health Equity of Infection-Related Cancers in 'Belt and Road' Countries from 1990 to 2021: An Analysis Based on Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021". Taking patients with infection-related cancers in 66 "Belt and Road" countries from 1990 to 2021 as the research objects, the team used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021 (GBD 2021) and adopted linear regression to analyze the trends of incidence, mortality, and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). They pointed out the problem of inequality in global health systems and put forward countermeasures such as key screening and innovative vaccines. The team's research and analysis were logically rigorous, and their proposed countermeasures were practical. The pragmatic research value and scientific demonstration method won unanimous praise from the judges.

Since the launch of this competition, the School of International Education has attached great importance to it. It has made scientific planning and careful organization, providing multiple rounds of guidance and drills for the participating projects to ensure the high-quality presentation of the projects, which finally led to the excellent results. This not only affirms the students' academic literacy and innovative ability, but also marks that the internationalization level of our university has reached a new stage. Taking this award as a starting point, the university will further deepen the reform of international student training, build a higher-level international medical innovation platform, and inject new impetus into promoting the high-quality development of international student education in China and cultivating medical innovation talents with international vision and global competence.