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In November 2017, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical School performed its first contrast stress echocardiograms in Zhejiang, with the guidance of the U of A's Jonathan Choy ('92 MD), cardiologist and associate dean, clinical faculty.
While ultrasound contrast is commonly used in China to monitor or diagnose liver tumours, Choy says stress echocardiograms had not been previously performed in Zhejiang due to lack of expertise. Now the procedure could vastly improve diagnostic opportunities and health outcomes for patients there.
"It is fast, cheap, widely available, portable and non-invasive, with no radiation or risk of kidney damage from dye," said Choy, who has been performing stress echocardiography in Canada for 10 years.
In addition to making an impact on heart-disease diagnostics in China, U of A faculty, clinicians and administrative leaders are shaping leading health centres in the areas of surgery, psychiatry, neurology, family medicine and more through sustained partnership programs with several medical education institutions in East Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Nepal and Australia, among others.