Past Tours

Impressions of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China: Clinical Training at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

By Julie Ing Stern, MAOM, LicAc (Attendee of the August 2007 Shanghai Tour)

Traditional Chinese Medicine in China is flourishing. This August, I was fortunate enough to join the first ever Honso Clinical Training Course in China, at the Shanghai University of TCM. We had the unique experience of working with and observing senior doctors treat everything from Bell's palsy, gout and dysmenorrhea to chronic renal failure in a truly integrated clinical setting.

Our "home" for two weeks was Yue Yang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, one of the three primary teaching hospitals of Shanghai University of TCM. Yue Yang is a top hospital, ranked as a Class A, Grade 3 hospital by the Chinese government. Doctors at Yue Yang practice both Biomedicine and TCM – they can choose the treatment approach that is most effective for their patients (in fact, the lines at the Chinese and western medicine pharmacies were about equal). Several of its departments, including Acupuncture, Tui na, Gynecology, and Gastroenterology are famous throughout China. We got to visit all of these departments plus oncology and external medicine during our whirlwind tour, collecting many years' worth of clinical experience along the way.

Hospitals in China are orderly chaos; walking into the lobby of the hospital felt more like walking into an airport at rush hour. LED signs flashing, people lining up to check in, people in wheelchairs, people waiting, people hurrying, people everywhere. In addition to office visits, Traditional Chinese Medicine therapies are also delivered to most out-patients as herbal patents, raw formulas, and time-saving precooked syrups prepared by the hospital. Some out-patients even receive intravenous herbal treatment in a dedicated IV room.

My first day in the hospital was in the Acupuncture department with Dr. Zhang, a very popular doctor. His patients ranged from the post-stroke elderly to children with headaches and ADD. With over 50 patients already lined up by 8:30 a.m., we were put to work immediately, needling, fire-cupping and treating with moxabustion. I was nervous, like at my very first day of clinical internship at school, but fortunately for me, the patients were very gracious, and my rusty "Shanghainese" dialect of Chinese got the conversations going.

This hectic start kicked off two weeks packed with new experiences ranging from the subtleties of shades of purple tongues to discussing the use of Chinese herbal medicine to treat diseases such as acne, acid reflux, and even chronic renal failure. The doctors shared their clinical experiences and formulas with us, and discussed how they approached specific individual cases (our translators were exceptional!). For example, in Nephrology, Dr. Tao talked about common co-morbid signs and symptoms of kidney infections, such as sore throats in younger patients or gout in older patients. In Gastroenterology, Dr. Ma shared his general formula for reflux esophagitis and then discussed modifications based on whether the patient's presented with more of a Spleen/Stomach, Gallbladder, or Liver constitution.

My training at Yue Yang gave me invaluable information to bring home to my practice. What I learned from the doctors' vast expertise would have taken me a lifetime to accumulate in the U.S. The notebook that I filled with notes and formulas during our training was the one souvenir that I made sure to carry on during my flight home so that it could not be lost in luggage. I have already referenced my notes for two new patients!

Julie Ing Stern MAOM, LicAc, is a graduate of the New England School of Acupuncture and is practicing acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Boston area. She has also been a pharmacist in the NESA herbal pharmacy for over three years, and is a budding horticulturist of Chinese herbs, literally learning from the ground up how to grow Chinese herbs with her work on the NESA herbal garden. Julie continues to tap into the best of both worlds by continuing her education in both the U.S. and China, and is dedicated to promoting the cultivation of good health in herself, her family and her patients. She is the mother of three children, and part of a very active family who uses Chinese Medicine to stay healthy.