NECO Welcomes Wenzhou Medical University Delegation
Delegates from the Wenzhou Medical University (WMU) visited NECO to discuss how each institution can continue to evolve our international partnership and the way we teach and treat vision health. NECO welcomed seven senior members of the University including Lu Fan, OD ’02 Chief Director of the Eye Hospital at Wenzhou Medical University. Dr. Lu was the first graduate of the joint MS/OD program offered by NECO and WMU. After her time at NECO, Dr. Fan returned to China to help pioneer the establishment of optometry as a medical discipline in the country. She was the recipient of the 2002 China National Award for Outstanding Women. Since earning an MD at WMU, she has devoted herself in promoting the development of higher education, medical care, and scientific research in the field of optometry and eye care in China.
Doctors Purcell and Lu in front of her portrait that hangs on our Distinguished Alumni wall.
Other delegates included Chen Jie, Executive Dean for Wenzhou Medical University’s Eye Hospital; Zhao Yun-Er, Deputy Director for the Zhejiang Eye Hospital; Xu Dan, Deputy Dean of Wenzhou Medical University’s Eye Hospital; Cao Min, Director of Strategic Planning of Wenzhou Medical University’s Eye Hospital; Li Xiaoman, Researcher at Wenzhou Medical University’s Eye Hospital; and Li Mengchen, Research Assistant at Wenzhou Medical University’s Eye Hospital.
WMU’s Delegation on Beacon Street
The group met with NECO President and CEO Dr. Howard Purcell to discuss their experiences in Wenzhou around vision health and how they are treating patients for different conditions, as well as the history of NECO and WMU. Before that, the group toured the Commonwealth Center for Eye Care and met with Senior Director of Clinics and Outreach Dr. Timothy Bossie and VP of Professional Affairs Dr. Gary Chu. Doctors Bossie and Chu showed the evolution of student resources and experiential learning that the Eye Care Center has implemented over the years. To end the day, the group was even able to witness the solar eclipse with the rest of the NECO community.
Dr. Lu and her colleagues view the eclipse on Beacon Street
NECO and WMU has a long history of collaboration that will only continue to grow as both institutes change the way people see the world.
