Clipping Board » Medical Affairs and Administration ─ Medical system, pharmaceuticals, and medical community-related reports
United Daily News / By Huang Huifen, Ph.D. in Chinese Medicine Traumatology, Associate Professor at China Medical University (Taipei City)
April 18, 2012
According to the front-page report in the United Daily News on the 16th, the Department of Health has renamed "folk therapy practitioners" originally working in Chinese medicine institutions as "traditional rehabilitation and massage practitioners," allowing them to continue operating within these institutions. The only requirements are enhanced partitioning, uniforms, name tags, and other identifiers, along with charging out-of-pocket fees.
This is truly a crude decision that sets back progress. Since Chinese medicine originates from China, I will briefly outline the revival of Chinese traumatology in mainland China over the past sixty years as a reference for Taiwan’s policymakers.
When the Chinese Communist Party established its government in 1949, the country faced a severe shortage of medical resources. Under Premier Zhou Enlai’s guiding principles of "letting the capable teach" and "first survive, then strengthen, then prosper," the ancestral institution of my lineage—the "Quanzhou Orthopedic Hospital" of Southern Shaolin, known for its "Shaolin Martial Arts Bronze Man Manual"—recruited skilled practitioners who could orally transmit medical knowledge but were illiterate. These included martial artists performing in Tianqiao and itinerant medicine sellers in front of temples. They began practicing and passing on their skills at Quanzhou Orthopedic Hospital. By the 1960s, due to the Cultural Revolution, "barefoot doctors" also joined the ranks.
By the 1970s, the official policies of "Western medicine learning Chinese medicine" and the "master-apprentice system" (where senior Chinese medicine practitioners trained young, talented Western doctors) became widespread, ushering in a new era of "integrated Chinese-Western traumatology." By 2000, mainland China abolished the "Special Examination for Chinese Medicine Practitioners" a decade earlier than Taiwan, meaning that all Chinese medicine practitioners in the 21st century had to undergo formal professional training.
Some Chinese medicine universities in mainland China have departments for massage and qigong. However, to practice in Chinese medicine institutions, practitioners must pass the Chinese medicine licensing exam and complete two years of hospital internship. Folk therapy practitioners, referred to as "massage therapists," must also pass exams to practice and are subject to a grading system. Their regulatory authority is the Commerce Bureau, which oversees their management.
In mainland China, massage (tuina) is clearly classified as a medical practice, while folk massage is considered a therapeutic activity. The distinction is clear, with separate regulations and development paths. This is a model of sound policy fostering a sustainable and well-regulated industry.
In contrast, under pressure from interest groups and legislators, the Department of Health’s recent decision to classify "traditional rehabilitation and massage" as a non-medical practice is akin to the emperor’s new clothes—a blatant dereliction of duty. In Chinese medicine textbooks, "traditional rehabilitation and massage" involves invasive procedures like bone-setting and joint realignment. The English term for a Chinese medicine practitioner is "Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctor."
In Taiwan, Chinese medicine practitioners must pass national exams based on classical texts like the "Golden Mirror of Medicine," including sections on "Orthopedic Essentials" and "Traumatology Compendium," and complete clinical internships before obtaining their licenses. Thus, "Chinese medicine practitioners" are the state-certified "traditional rehabilitation and massage doctors." Folk therapy practitioners, despite their various schools, lack standardized theories or historical inclusion in national medical curricula. At best, they can be called "folk therapy practitioners" or, as in mainland China, "massage therapists."
Allowing "folk therapy practitioners" to remain in Chinese medicine institutions raises serious questions: How will the Department of Health regulate them? How will they enforce the law? How can "medical practice" and "non-medical practice" be distinguished within the same space? Does this violate Article 28 of the Medical Practitioners Act, which prohibits medical institutions from employing unlicensed personnel?
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ OPINION/ X1/ 7035222. shtml#ixzz1sPE1eWVG
Folk Therapy Practitioners Stay in TCM Hospitals: Policy Reversal
April 18, 2012
According to the front-page report in the United Daily News on the 16th, the Department of Health has renamed "folk therapy practitioners" originally working in Chinese medicine institutions as "traditional rehabilitation and massage practitioners," allowing them to continue operating within these institutions. The only requirements are enhanced partitioning, uniforms, name tags, and other identifiers, along with charging out-of-pocket fees.
This is truly a crude decision that sets back progress. Since Chinese medicine originates from China, I will briefly outline the revival of Chinese traumatology in mainland China over the past sixty years as a reference for Taiwan’s policymakers.
When the Chinese Communist Party established its government in 1949, the country faced a severe shortage of medical resources. Under Premier Zhou Enlai’s guiding principles of "letting the capable teach" and "first survive, then strengthen, then prosper," the ancestral institution of my lineage—the "Quanzhou Orthopedic Hospital" of Southern Shaolin, known for its "Shaolin Martial Arts Bronze Man Manual"—recruited skilled practitioners who could orally transmit medical knowledge but were illiterate. These included martial artists performing in Tianqiao and itinerant medicine sellers in front of temples. They began practicing and passing on their skills at Quanzhou Orthopedic Hospital. By the 1960s, due to the Cultural Revolution, "barefoot doctors" also joined the ranks.
By the 1970s, the official policies of "Western medicine learning Chinese medicine" and the "master-apprentice system" (where senior Chinese medicine practitioners trained young, talented Western doctors) became widespread, ushering in a new era of "integrated Chinese-Western traumatology." By 2000, mainland China abolished the "Special Examination for Chinese Medicine Practitioners" a decade earlier than Taiwan, meaning that all Chinese medicine practitioners in the 21st century had to undergo formal professional training.
Some Chinese medicine universities in mainland China have departments for massage and qigong. However, to practice in Chinese medicine institutions, practitioners must pass the Chinese medicine licensing exam and complete two years of hospital internship. Folk therapy practitioners, referred to as "massage therapists," must also pass exams to practice and are subject to a grading system. Their regulatory authority is the Commerce Bureau, which oversees their management.
In mainland China, massage (tuina) is clearly classified as a medical practice, while folk massage is considered a therapeutic activity. The distinction is clear, with separate regulations and development paths. This is a model of sound policy fostering a sustainable and well-regulated industry.
In contrast, under pressure from interest groups and legislators, the Department of Health’s recent decision to classify "traditional rehabilitation and massage" as a non-medical practice is akin to the emperor’s new clothes—a blatant dereliction of duty. In Chinese medicine textbooks, "traditional rehabilitation and massage" involves invasive procedures like bone-setting and joint realignment. The English term for a Chinese medicine practitioner is "Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctor."
In Taiwan, Chinese medicine practitioners must pass national exams based on classical texts like the "Golden Mirror of Medicine," including sections on "Orthopedic Essentials" and "Traumatology Compendium," and complete clinical internships before obtaining their licenses. Thus, "Chinese medicine practitioners" are the state-certified "traditional rehabilitation and massage doctors." Folk therapy practitioners, despite their various schools, lack standardized theories or historical inclusion in national medical curricula. At best, they can be called "folk therapy practitioners" or, as in mainland China, "massage therapists."
Allowing "folk therapy practitioners" to remain in Chinese medicine institutions raises serious questions: How will the Department of Health regulate them? How will they enforce the law? How can "medical practice" and "non-medical practice" be distinguished within the same space? Does this violate Article 28 of the Medical Practitioners Act, which prohibits medical institutions from employing unlicensed personnel?
Source: http://udn. com/ NEWS/ OPINION/ X1/ 7035222. shtml#ixzz1sPE1eWVG