Nursing Shifts in Sichuan illuminates one of the most consequential additions to early-twentieth-century health care in China. In 1943, the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) was forced to evacuate to the Canadian West China Mission in Chengdu, Sichuan. As part of an extraordinary mass migration to Free China during the Japanese occupation, the refugee PUMC was hosted by the Canadian West China Mission for the next three years.

During that period, the PUMC transformed nursing at the Canadian mission, initiating the second university nursing program in the country. Both programs were closed by the new Communist government in 1951. When China reopened degree programs thirty-five years later, it was PUMC alumnae who helped restart them.

In the contemporary era of exponential increases in East-West educational exchanges, Nursing Shifts in Sichuan offers both a cautionary tale about the fragility of transnational relations and a testament to the resilience of educated women.

About the Author

Sonya Grypma is internationally recognized for her work on missionary nursing in China. She is the author of Healing Henan: Canadian Nurses at the North China Mission, 1888-1947 and China Interrupted: Japanese Internment and the Reshaping of a Canadian Missionary Community. Grypma served as the dean of nursing at Trinity Western University before becoming Vice Provost of Leadership and Graduate Studies. She is the past president of the Canadian Association for Schools of Nursing.

Reviews
"This is an important book and a riveting story." -- Sioban Nelson, University of Toronto
"Nursing Shifts in Sichuan is truly hard to put down! This is an exciting read, albeit sometimes a sad one, written by an outstanding scholar of nursing, religion, and mission. Social history at its best." -- Barbra Mann Wall, University of Virginia



Book Information
ISBN 9780774865715
Author Sonya Grypma
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 730g