Source: Binhai Broadcasting, Tianjin Television and Radio Station

Time: 09:02 a.m. Oct. 31, 2017

Cycling to Water Park to Practice Tai Chi, Providing Hands-On Demonstration in Class

Cameron Rafael McKay, a teacher from the School of Medicine of Nankai University, is one of the recently announced winners of the Tianjin 2017 Haihe Friendship Award. He is the first full-time foreign clinical teacher of the school, who has broadened the visions for the medical education of NKU. With his help and support, the school has introduced many foreign teachers, taking its medical education to a new level.

Today, for our series reports of A Look Back -- Tianjin's Development over Past 5 Years in the Eyes of Haihe Friendship Award Winners, our reporter Yu Jidan brings us the storyServing the People -- Dr. McKay's Daily Life in Tianjin.

Dr. McKay graduated from the California College of Podiatry and has nearly 40 years of clinical experience. After his retirement in 2015, joining a cooperation program between NKU and Brigham Young University in Utah, the United States, he accepted the assignment of Brigham Young University to teach in NKU.

“I was a ‘podiatrist’ back in the United States. I specialized in the treatment of foot pain and other diseases. There are no such doctors in China. So, being able to teach in China will help promote the exchange of medical experience in this field between China and the U.S. My wife and I have traveled in China before. We felt very comfortable with the people, the culture and the history here. In 2015, our youngest daughter graduated from college and my wife and I both retired. So when the school reached out to me with the offer, I thought it would be a great opportunity.”

For McKay, China is a charming nation, and he feels so lucky to come to Tianjin, where he has developed a close bond with the city and its people.

“Tianjin truly is a metropolis, but at the same time, it feels like home. I love Tianjin for the enthusiasm and kindness of its people. I liked cycling when I was in the U.S., and Tianjin is a perfect city for cycling, it is convenient and safe to ride here. My bike is a Flying Pigeon. There is a saying that Tianjin is an epitome of China for the past century To understand modern China, you must understand Tianjin. If you walk along the Haihe River, you will have a pretty good understanding of the Chinese characteristics and modernism.I brought my American friends here, and they were amazed by the beauty of the Haihe River. The night view and architecture of Tianjin are unique. I have a lot of friends who had only been to Beijing before, but after they've seen Tianjin, they said they wanted to visit again and even live here. It's a very vibrant city and has been able to keep that way.”

In the classroom, Prof. McKay is a good teacher who does his best. His humorous teaching style and dedication to medical science have deeply affected the students. They call him Old Mckay. In order to help students truly grasp the knowledge by combining theory with practice, Prof. Mckay often acts as a teaching aid himself.

“The best way to teach is to give students a live demonstration for them to participate in. Last year, there was one time when I was teaching local anesthesia, I let them practice on me. I injected the anesthetic into the needle, rolled up my sleeve, and stuck the needle into my arm. Then I said to a girl,‘You, come and have a try’. She said she was very scared and very nervous. I told her not to. I said I would show her how to do it step by step. I'm the patient, and she's the doctor.First I showed her how to inject the liquid into the syringe, which was easy, but when it came to the part where she needed to prick, it was difficult. She was doing it very slowly. Actually, that went very well, I didn't feel much pain. When she was done and I asked her how she felt, she said, ‘Oh, I'm scared to death! But now I feel good and confident.’ I think what she learned in that class was not just how to give an injection, but more importantly, she realized that she could do a lot of difficult things, and do them well.”

From general practice and medical English to evidence-based medicine and medical imaging, Prof. McKay has taught many courses since he came to the School of Medicine of NKU. Also, he has taken on much work beyond his duty. He proposed to put students in small classes to improve teaching quality. He taught for a total of 208 hours in a year, far exceeding the average teaching hours of teachers of the school. To help his Chinese colleagues improve their teaching, he offered to help them practice English. In order to get more U.S. medical practitioners to teach at NKU, he made a lot of efforts during his holidays back in the U.S. to contact outstanding talents for NKU and introduce them to the university. In less than two years, the number of foreign teachers at the School of Medicine has increased to eight from just one. The school is planning to carry out more cooperation between Chinese and U.S. students and doctors in the future.

In the eyes of Prof. McKay's students, he is not only a teacher who can give vivid lectures, but also an American grandpa who makes everyone happy. To encourage students to ask questions, Prof. McKay set an office question time and gave out candies he brought from the U.S. to students as rewards. Guan Yan, a colleague of Prof. McKay's, said,

“The Prof. McKay I know, to sum up in a few words, is highly passionate and very sincere and dedicated, just like a servant of the people as indicated in a Chinese saying. He was very serious about his class. In order to explain the effects of local anesthetics, he even asked the students to inject local anesthetics directly into his arm. And then he gave a thumbs-up to the student who did it. Every day he would greet every Chinese he met on the street, old or young, with a warm ‘hello’. He loves children, whether Chinese or foreign, and he will teach them English, cycling, swimming, diving, and even baking and barbecue. He is such a kind, cheerful American grandpa.”

Prof. McKay and his wife are both teachers in Tianjin. They are already part of the city. They spend their weekends doing Tai Chi in the water park, making Chinese friends, having parties and going on trips together. He also pays close attention to China's development.

China's high-speed railways, for instance, have the world's most advanced technology, which is not only for the Chinese, but also for many people around the world. China has done a lot of remarkable things, and I believe China will set more ambitious goals and accomplish them, which will not only make China better, but also contribute to the world to make it a better place.”

Prof. McKay always tells people that he has two homes, whether in Tianjin or in the U.S., he is extremely happy.

“I have lived in Tianjin for two years. It is a very nice place and I really like living here. Now I feel Tianjin is my home in China. There is a saying in the U.S., which is Mi casa es su casa. It meas that my house is your house. My Chinese friends are very important to me, and I wish everyone happiness!”

Tianjin held the awarding ceremony for the Tianjin 2017 Haihe Friendship Award on September 19, 2017. Ten foreign experts received the honor. 

Haihe Friendship Award is the highest honor awarded to foreign talents by Tianjin Municipal People's Government. Since the award was established in 2006, there have been a total of 273 foreign winners. With the rapid economic and social development of Tianjin in recent years, the city is guiding and encouraging more overseas talents to actively contribute to Tianjin's modernization and to serve as Tianjin's think tank. The integration of foreign experts not only further promotes the development of Tianjin, but also shows them the rapid development and extraordinary changes of Tianjin and China.

Starting from October 17, Binhai Broadcasting and Tianjin Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs jointly launched a series of reports titled A Look Back -- Tianjin's Development over Past 5 Years in the Eyes of Haihe Friendship Award Winners. The series reports further show Tianjin's development and progress in related fields through the winners’ experience, achievements and feelings.(Reporter: Yu Jidan)