Cultivating the TCM Market: The Key Is the Young
In people's impression, those who see a TCM doctor are mostly the elderly. This is no doubt tied to the elderly having more illness, but it is undeniable that TCM's influence among the old is far greater than its influence among the young. Recently the media have reported an upward trend in white-collar urban youth favoring TCM. At Xiyuan Hospital, where I work, I have noticed the same: some come exhausted in body and mind, hoping for regulation; some, worn out, with chronic conditions that need treatment. These are people of high education, many with influence in society — and that gives us an opportunity to widen TCM's influence among the young.
I have spoken with some young white-collar patients. The chief impression: they know far more about Western medicine than about TCM, and most have turned to TCM out of fear of the side effects of synthetic drugs. But when asked about TCM's basic theory, most shake their heads. Today's society is a market economy: publicity and promotion are everywhere. Foreign companies look long-range, beginning their advertising from childhood, cultivating a future consumer base. Even leading Western hospitals — Peking Union, for instance — promote big specialists with small popular articles and value Western-medicine public-education work. Looking at TCM, this work badly needs improvement. TCM colleagues need to step out of the inertia of seeking policy protection and step forward themselves to introduce TCM to the public, especially to the young — so more people understand TCM, choose it in fit circumstances. This will serve TCM's long-term sustainable development. Of course TCM popular-education is hard: many of its theories and terms are difficult to put in modern language; an ancient TCM book to the general public is little different from a book from heaven. So how to let the public, especially the young, understand, accept, and choose TCM deserves deep study.
A medical art, first, must be close to society, close to family, close to life — only thus can it stand in competition. TCM's hope and future are in the young generation; the great potential market too is in the young. We should have more chances to tell them what TCM is, what it does well, in what circumstances TCM is best — in the merchant's term, the market must be cultivated.
Originally in China Traditional Chinese Medicine News, September 9, 2002; Chinese Physicians' Weekly, third edition.