What is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

A Chat with Patricia Lew, MAOM

With Avanti Vadivelu

Q.  Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been around for centuries. Can you tell us a little bit more about its background?

A. TCM has been around for more than 2,000 years.  It is the world's oldest form of medicine.  It incorporates many theories to treat a variety of ailments.

For your knowledge…According to www.tcmpage.com, TCM is based on the understanding that the human body is based on the holistic theory of the universe as described in Daoism, and the treatment of illness is based primarily on the diagnosis and differentiation of syndromes.

Q. What makes TCM stand out from other forms of medicine or healing?

A. TCM practitioners do not use pharmaceutical drugs to treat their patients, instead, they use acupuncture and herbs.

For your knowledge… The TCM approach is fundamentally different from that of Western medicine.  According to TCM  theory, qi (vital energy) and blood circulate in the body through a system of channels that connect internal organs with external organs or tissues. By stimulating certain points of the body surface reached through acupuncture, the flow of qi and blood can be regulated whereby diseases are treated.  Along with acupuncture, herbal medicine is the other major part of TCM.  Today there are about 600 herbs in use for medicinal purposes. 

Q. Other than obtaining an undergraduate education, what other training is required to become a TCM practitioner?

 A. It differs from state to state.  For Texas, we have to get our Master's degree and then take our national board exams.

 For your knowledge…The current Chinese medical degree (CMD) education system is based on a system that dates back thousand's of years. It usually takes 6 years of systematic, rigorous, and comprehensive study, training, and practice to obtain a CMD degree in China.  The CMD degree is the official medical degree required by China Ministry of Health to practice Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) in China.  A physician holding a CMD degree is qualified to practice full spectrum CHM ranging from diagnoses to treatments of all diseases.  These days there are several TCM schools available in the United States as well.

 Q.  What made you want to hold a career in TCM?

 A. I was interested in TCM after receiving a treatment while I was getting my Bachelor degree at the University of Texas in sociology.  The treatment changed my life and I decided to study TCM.  I was also drawn to healing people in a natural and respectful manner. 

Q. What, in your opinion, are the benefits of seeing a TCM physician?

A. The main benefit is that TCM treats the root of the illness and not the symptoms.

Q.  What do you believe is the biggest barrier that TCM practitioners have to face here in the United States?

A. I think opening people's mind to traditional healing is the biggest challenge.  I would hope that people will be more open-minded to trying this modality of healing. 

For your knowledge… The website, www.tcmpage.com, managed by Dr. Kenneth Chao, has made it their mission to help people in the west get familiar with TCM.  Several other TCM awareness campaigns are also taking place throughout the United States.

Q. What is your reaction if people consider TCM as "alternative medicine"? 

A. In actuality, TCM is older than "conventional medicine."  Therefore, TCM is actually the original conventional medicine.

For your knowledge… More than 2/3 of people in the U.K. believe complementary medicine, such as TCM, to be a valid form of medicine.  To that end, the U.K. just recently passed a law that will govern the practice of TCM for the first time.

Q. If someone wants to find a TCM practitioner, how should they do so?   

A. I would look online or ask people for references.

For your knowledge…MyHealthGate also recommends looking up TCM schools that may have a directory of their practicing alumni.