Walailak University (WU), led by the President Professor Dr. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, welcomed distinguished professors from top institutions in the United Kingdom and Singapore, today, at the Honor Hall of Walailak University Hospital (WUH).

The delegation consisted of Professor Christian Mallen, Head of School of Medicine, and Dr. James Prior, Research Fellow in Epidemiology, from Keele University in the United Kingdom; and Clinical Professor Ng Chirk Jenn from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.

The purpose of the visit was to explore potential collaborations with WU health science-related schools in both research and academics.

President Sombat said Walailak University, established as a public autonomous university, excels in efficient management. Apart from its commitment to producing quality research aimed at addressing global challenges and published in Scopus-indexed journals (Quartiles 1 and 2) and cultivating high-caliber graduates, WU was allocated a grant from the government to build WUH.

“Our hospital serves as a medical school for our medical students and provides healthcare services for people, particularly in the upper southern region. It is currently operated with 426 beds. And this year, we aim to increase the capacity to 540 beds, and will finally reach the goal of 750 beds.”

“People can come to our hospital and receive better service at a much cheaper price,” said President Sombat.

WUH also welcomes international medical students for medical rotations and ward learning experiences before graduation. The epitome of this program is with the medical students from Ohio State University, USA, which has been a long-standing program for almost a decade, since 2015, in collaboration with Vachira Phuket Hospital and Patong Hospital, Phuket Province.

President Sombat also briefed the delegates about WU’s history, background, and current rankings in Times Higher Education (THE) Young University Rankings 2023 (at 501+) and THE World University 2024 (at 1201-1500). He also mentioned the ongoing construction project of the National History Museum at Walailak Botanic Park.

Professor Christian Mallen said that Walailak University and Keele University share similarities, both being the biggest campuses in the countries with regional locations.

“We are still relatively young in the UK, and being regionally located allows us to contribute to the local society. We are very research-focused. That’s how we got to meet your team through family medicine,” he said.

Professor Sombat also expressed interest in student and professor exchanges between the institutions.

Also attending the event were Assistant Professor Dr. Patnarin Supakorn, Director of the Center for International Affairs, and Associate Professor Apichai Wattanapisit from the School of Medicine.