Guangdong Medical College (GDMC), the former Zhanjiang Branch of the Sun Yatsen Medical College and now one of the key institutions of higher learning in Guangdong province, was established on May 23, 1958. In February 1964, with the approval of the State Council, the college was renamed Zhanjiang Medical College. In September 1992, with the approval of the Provincial Government of Guangdong, it was renamed the present Guangdong Medical College (GDMC).

GDMC is the chief medical science education and research centre in the joint area of Guangdong province, Guangxi province, and Hainan province. GDMC now has two campuses. Zhanjiang campus is situated in Zhanjiang , a beautiful seaport city. The campus covers an area of 151,334.09 square meters, and the buildings cover an area of 215,476.83 square meters. Dongguan campus is situated in the scenic Songshan Lake Science and Technology Industry Park in Dongguan City , with an area of 784,670.59 square meters. It admitted its first students in 2003.

GDMC, authorized to confer bachelor's and master's degrees, offers 11 specialties for undergraduate studies: Clinical Medicine, Clinical Medical Laboratory, Medical Imaging, Stomatology, Preventive Medical Science, Biomedical Engineering, Information Management & Information System, Nursing Care, Pharmacology, Management of Public Undertakings, and Medical Jurisprudence. The college also offers 12 Master's programs to students from all over the country. Since 1996, GDMC, together with Osaka College of Medical Technology, Osaka College of High Technology and Osaka College of Health Care and Welfare, has been offering five-year undergraduate programs in Clinical Medical Laboratory Test, Medical Information Management& Information System, Medical Psychology and Nursing Care. There are now about 8895 students in the college, including 392 postgraduate students.

There are 2642 staff members in the college and the affiliated hospital, among whom 597 are engaged in teaching and research work. There are 73 professors and 136 associate professors accounting for 35% of the total teaching and research staff. There are 340 persons with doctor's or master's degree. Some outstanding experts, who are famous home and abroad, have played an important part in the country. GDMC has a group of high-quality teachers as faculty for teaching, scientific research and medical treatment. Commendable achievements have been made in teaching, medical care and scientific research in recent years.

The college comprises 6 institutes including Institute of Basic Medical Sciences , the First Clinical Institute, the Second Clinical Institute, Institute of Medical Laboratory, Nursing Institute, Adult Education Institute, and one Social Science Department. It also has one directly affiliated hospital, 9 indirectly affiliated hospitals and 49 hospitals for internship. The college is equipped with advanced instruments and facilities for teaching, scientific research and medical treatment. The library, with an area of 31960 square meters, has a collection of 1,120,295 volumes of books and 28 reading rooms. The library is equipped with an electronic reading-room and a perfect computerized managing system. The main publication of the college is “Journal of GDMC”.

Since the establishment of GDMC, the college has trained about 17,000 advanced medical professionals, who have played an important role in the field of medical and health care. Students graduated from GDMC have a good reputation for their theoretical knowledge and practical operation abilities. The rate of employment is comparatively high with 92.8%, 96.0% and 95.7% in 2002, 2003 and 2004 respectively. Students graduated from GDMC have won lots of social compliments of being dedicated, practical, reliable and excellent.

In recent years, GDMC has built up a close relationship with foreign institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutes and medical institutions. Academic exchanges have become more and more frequent for the college. Tens of specialists, professors, young and middle-aged teachers have been sent to U.S. , U.K. , Japan , Singapore , Australia , Canada , Hong Kong and Macao for investigation, lectures, further training and overseas research. Meanwhile, many foreign experts and scholars have been invited to teach and give lectures. Academic exchanges have been undertaken in many fields and at different levels.