Kaohsiung Medical University executes The Program on Bilingual Education for Students in College (BEST) with four core goals: creating a bilingual learning environment, enhancing teachers’ English teaching ability, improving students’ English proficiency, and increasing international mobility and global perspectives. After three years, the university has seen significant achievements, summarized as follows:

Teacher Teaching and Support

1.  Training Programs: The university offers diverse and flexible training programs to enhance teachers' English teaching skills. These include domestic and international EMI training and online courses.

2.  Teaching Simulations and Feedback: American scholars were invited to conduct EMI teaching simulations and peer observations, resulting in observed classes and consultations. An English researcher from AIT was also invited to perform a one-year teacher training at the College of Medicine.

3.  Growth Communities: Five internal English teaching communities and a “Taiwan Digital Biomedical EMI Alliance” were established to exchange ideas and develop EMI strategies and resources.

4.  Support Systems: Revised regulations include EMI contributions in teacher evaluations and promotions. Subsidy programs for all English teaching and English proficiency tests have been introduced.

5.  TA Training: EMI TA training includes university-level and cross-university courses.

Curriculum Planning and Quality Assurance

1.   Course Offerings: “Freshman English” and “Advanced English” courses have raised their English teaching percentages, and EAP/ESP/EMI courses have expanded significantly.

2.   Quality Improvement: Assessment questionnaires explore teachers’ needs and students’ experiences to enhance course quality. Feedback on EMI courses have been positive.

3.   Online self-study EMI courses: English-taught courses from international platforms such as Coursera, UDACITY, and edX were recommended for students to study online.

Student Learning

1.   English Immersion Environment: High-quality interactive English immersion environments are created through various activities and competitions, such as medical English writing and interview skills.

2.   English Interprofessional Education (IPE): The School of Pharmacy collaborates with UAMS and sister schools from Thailand, facilitating cross-cultural and interprofessional learning in English.

3.   Incentive Mechanisms: Students are rewarded for achieving or exceeding English proficiency thresholds.

Future efforts will focus on deepening teachers’ English teaching capabilities, improving students’ English proficiency, and enhancing EAP/ESP/EMI course quality.