The China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals for Residency Education Consortium was launched in 2015 to spearhead reform of residency education in the country. Six members of the Consortium are pursuing reform through conducting self-studies of their respective programs. At a March workshop in Guangzhou, supported by CMB, 40 participants representing 6 elite hospitals shared their preliminary assessments on the strengths and weaknesses of their residency education programs, as well as future opportunities and challenges.

On February 1, 2017, the new CMB Foundation office in Bangkok was inaugurated by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. With the joint support of The Atlantic Philanthropies, CMB opened an office on Sukumvit Road in Bangkok as a regional hub for its work in the region, especially the Transformative Leadership for Health Equity Initiative. The Equity Initiative (EI) aims to cultivate 500 next generation leaders and build communities for health equity in the ASEAN region plus China over the coming 20 years.

During The Equity Initiative’s Project Accelerator workshop on November 11-15 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the fifteen inaugural Equity Fellows worked to finalize their fellowship project proposals, reviewed what they had learned throughout the year, and continued building leadership and management competencies through training sessions focusing on peer coaching and project and media management.

CMB’s inaugural cohort of Equity Initiative fellows gathered in Thailand August 13-20 to embark on the Asia Trek (3rd) component of their fellowship program. Asia Trek 2016 focused on the theme of vulnerable populations, especially urban and ethnic migrants, and through field visits and dialogue with senior health leaders, it gave Fellows an experiential immersion in the region and sparked ideas and actions to address health inequities.