With the support of the government and Li Ka Shing Foundation, Shantou University Medical College has rapidly become a leading innovator in medical education among medical universities and colleges. In recent years, SUMC has attracted a large number of talents to form an effective faculty. Among 228 full-time faculty members, there are 90 full professors and 76 associate professors while 62.72% of them hold doctorate degrees and 45.61% have international experiences either by studying or working abroad. At present, there are 2,896 students, including 1,518 undergraduate students, 1,253 master students, 117 doctorate students and 8 international students. In 2010, approved by the Ministry of Education, SUMC was the first to recruit international medical students from US and Canada. Since 2012, the program in Clinical Medicine has been continuously ranked in the top 1% of universities and research institutions worldwide based on ESI (Essential Science Indicators) Analysis. In 2013, SUMC became a pilot development program site of Guangdong Province. In 2015, SUMC began to join the "Master-Doctor combined program" of Peking Union Medical College. At present, 8 students of Clinical Medicine in SUMC have received doctorate degrees in clinical medicine from the Peking Union Medical College. In 2018, the Nursing Program of SUMC was accredited by the Ministry of Education.

Being committed to student-centered education and the training of medical professionals that can meet international standards, SUMC has taken the lead in adopting a new "systems-integrated" medical curriculum, implementing English Immersion Program and assessing student performance in the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), attracting talented students and has produced quality medical professionals for China. For 21 consecutive years, the entry scores of the new students we enrolled have surpassed the entry score set for the national key universities, with SUMC being their first choice. In 2018, the employment rate of graduates reached 94.16%. The passing rate of SUMC's graduates in the National Medical Licensure Examination has led among Chinese universities for 11 consecutive years. In the past 7 years, the average pass rates of our students from All English Class in USMLE Step 1 have all been over 92%. In 2010, SUMC won the third prize at the 1st National Clinical Skills Competition and won two second prizes at the 2nd and 3rd Competition in 2012 and 2013.

SUMC offers a 5+3 Joint Bachelor-Master program in Clinical Medicine, five-year programs in Clinical Medicine and Stomatology and a four-year program in Nursing. Since 2011, selected students from the English-based medical program have participated in a joint educational program to study in CUHK for one year and since 2009, joint PhD programs have been launched with University of Alberta, Canada, University of Groningen, Netherlands, University of Hamburg, Germany and University of Sassari, Italy. SUMC’s education reform projects have won 1 first prize and 4 second prizes of the National Education Achievement Awards. SUMC has five affiliated teaching hospitals, namely The First Affiliated Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, The Mental Health Center, and The STU/CUHK Joint Shantou International Eye Center. SUMC is also strengthened by six associated partner hospitals - Guangdong General Hospital, Yuebei People's Hospital, Longgang Central Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen Children's Hospital, People's Hospital of Sanya and Chaozhou People's Hospital. Apart from medical teaching and scientific research, SUMC is also active in serving the community. The National Hospice and Medical Aid for the Poor are charity programs initiated and supported by the Li Ka Shing Foundation, all aiming at helping the sick and needy, and cultivating the spirit of "giving" in the community.

Currently, SUMC offers doctorate and master programs in various disciplines. Several research focus areas and laboratories have been recognized at the provincial or national levels. Since 1983, SUMC has received a total of 3,294 research grants, with a total fund of 260 million RMB, and had 2,211 SCI papers published. Scientific research papers have been published in the prestigious journals such as "Nature", "Science", "The Lancet", "Journal of Virology" and "PNAS". The research team led by Professor Guan Yi in Institute of Infection and Immunity of SUMC has successively published 5 high-impact papers in Nature and Science, and received the shared top prize of 2017 National Science and Technology Progress Award for their outstanding research in emerging infectious diseases.

Since 1983, SUMC has also won 301 national, provincial and municipal science and technology awards, including a First Class Prize in Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education, and a First Class Prize in Science and Technology Award of Guangdong Province. All these achievements mark the steady rise of SUMC's reputation in the quality of scientific research.

SUMC has been active in national and international academic exchanges and scientific research collaborations, and has established intercollegiate relationships with many renowned local and overseas medical institutions, including those in the U.S.A., UK, Canada, Japan, France, Australia, and Hong Kong, etc. Since 1999, SUMC has partnered with CETV and various overseas universities and institutes to hold 21 National Telemedicine Educational Symposia, with live broadcast via satellite and the internet.

SUMC exists to lead by being student-centered in medical education; patient-centered in health service delivery; application-centered in biomedical and clinical research; public interest-centered in community services; faculty and staff-centered for sustainable development of SUMC. In 2016, the new SUMC medical education center was completed and put into use, which is a milestone in the history of SUMC’s development, indicating its continuous efforts to make breakthroughs in the new era.