FROM THE PRESIDENT

Welcome to the Texas Medical Center News "International Edition," an annual issue highlighting some of the many international activities of Texas Medical Center institutions.

The stories in this issue demonstrate the commitments that the Texas Medical Center institutions are making to colleagues and to those in need of health care in other lands. For more than 50 years, health care providers, scientific researchers and students from abroad have come to the Texas Medical Center to work and study, and to take back home with them the expertise they gained while here. Similarly, patients from around the world are journeying here in record numbers, seeking the best health care available for themselves and their families. Last year alone, more than 16,000 patients from 120 countries came to the Texas Medical Center seeking treatment. Assuredly, there are extraordinary physicians, nurses and health care professionals in all countries, but many of them do not have access to the latest technology, much of which is developed in the Texas Medical Center.

Upon arrival, our international patients and their families are given first-class attention, because Texas Medical Center institutions have created patient advocate teams which are multi-lingual and conscious of cultural differences and needs. The commitment of Texas Medical Center institutions to international patient care is exemplified by the members of the Texas Medical Center International Affairs Advisory Council, comprised of representatives from hospitals, clinics and universities in the Texas Medical Center. Council members work, in their respective institutions and collectively, to ensure that visits from international patients, health care providers, students and researchers, are successful -from arrival to departure.

Texas Medical Center institutions have many local partners who share an interest in international affairs. Among these are the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the City of Houston Aviation Department, the Houston Consular Corps, the Houston International Protocol Alliance, the City of Houston International Trade Committee and the Greater Houston Visitors and Convention Bureau, to name a few. Many thanks to these agencies for their support.

The Texas Medical Center is becoming increasingly more "global" as it continues to expand its mission of excellence in patient care, research and education throughout the world. To the many international patients, health care providers, students and researchers who continue to visit from around the world, we extend a heart-felt "welcome."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/03_01_01/page_15.html