A Proposal to Adjust the Sequence of Chinese and Western Medical Courses
TCM higher education has nearly half a century of history; it has accumulated rich experience and provided talent to TCM's development. But given the special character of TCM as a discipline, problems remain. For instance, some TCM-college graduates leave school without firm professional identity, with no clear sense of TCM, ignorant of TCM's character, not knowing TCM's strengths and weaknesses — some even doubt TCM can treat disease or survive. This severely hurts TCM talent's growth and the discipline's development.
The reasons are complex. The most basic is the difference between Eastern and Western cultural systems. TCM belongs to the Eastern system; in this age when the Western system is dominant, TCM students come from no different a background than other math-and-science students; under Western-cultural education they have formed Western thinking-modes and recognition-habits. In TCM colleges, if they receive Western and Chinese courses in parallel, they will of course find affinity with Western — which fits their formed thinking — and find TCM uncongenial, hard to grasp, hard to accept.
I hold: change the current parallel running. After entry, give students two years of concentrated TCM courses — strengthen their training in TCM. TCM teachers, in addition to passing on basic TCM knowledge, should weave throughout the historical-cultural background of TCM, its philosophical roots, epistemology, methodology, and theoretical features — so students learn step by step to analyze and resolve problems with TCM theory and thinking. Then two concentrated years of Western medicine. After both, add a comparison course summarizing the differences and features of TCM and Western — from origin, historical-cultural background, philosophical roots, physiology, pathology, etiology, pathogenesis, therapeutics. This gives students a clear picture of the differences and features — a clearer foundation for clinical and research work later.
Originally in China TCM News, 9 September 2002
Chinese Physician Weekly, Page 3