UT Southwestern Medical Center and the faculty of health sciences of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, signed a five-year affiliation agreement today to collaborate on faculty and student exchanges, joint research and training activities and other educational opportunities.
The agreement, UT Southwestern's first with an African university, is the third international affiliation agreement for the medical center. UT Southwestern leaders previously signed agreements with Sun Yat-sen University and First Affiliated Hospital in China, and Rabin Medical Center in Israel. UT Southwestern also has an agreement with the University of Paris for an international medical student exchange program. These relationships serve to support the medical center's strategic effort to develop global health programs worldwide.
Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, president of UT Southwestern, signed the agreement with Dr. Bongani Mayosi, head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town, on behalf of Dr. Marian Jacobs, dean of the university's medical school. The agreement was announced during UT Southwestern's first global heath symposium, "Global Health 3.0: The Role of Academic Institutions," a UT System effort to bring together health care leaders to examine global health initiatives and opportunities.
"The agreement between UT Southwestern and the faculty of health sciences of the University of Cape Town extends our leading research and educational footprint to a critical region of the globe," Dr. Podolsky said. "This will substantially enrich the collaborative opportunities available for students, trainees and faculty at both institutions and will ultimately benefit the generations of patients for whom they will care."