Newsletter No. 214

Hands on the Pulse: Student Traning and Medical Service at the Chinese Medicine Teaching Clinic M embers of the University community who have the flu, a bone or two out of place, or something more serious, have a new on-campus option for medical advice and treatment besides the University Health Service. The Chinese Medicine Teaching Clinic was opened four months ago in the Sino Building on the Chung Chi campus, to provide Chinese medical services to students, staff, and their dependants. The clinic also serves primarily as a c l i n i cal t r a i n i ng base for the students of the University's School of Chinese Medicine. The c l i n ic has t h r ee sec t i ons: g e n e r al consultation, bone setting, and acupuncture. Services i n these sections are p r o v i d ed by experienced part-time Chinese medical practitioners who also act as mentors to the students. Prof. Che Chun - t ao, d i r ec t or of the School of Chinese Medicine, says, 'Having direct contact w i th patients is very important in the training of a Chinese medical practitioner. Students cannot practise w i t hout at least knowing how to serve the patients, take their pulse, and prescribe medication. Hence the teaching clinic is, as its name suggests, first and foremost a venue for training our students.' T h e c l i n i c ' s f i v e practitioners (3 generalists, 1 acupunc t u r i st and 1 bone- setter) have been handpicked to ensure t hey w o u l d be excellent teachers and mentors who are also professionally qualified, besides being highly compe t ent doctors. These Chinese med i c i ne c l i n i cal instructors have not only been p r ac t i s i ng i n Ho ng Ko ng for several decades, but have also done part-time teaching in Chinese medicine schools run by the Chinese medical associations. A t present visitors to the clinic have to take their prescriptions elsewhere to collect their herbs. Howeve r, starting February 2003, the clinic w i ll have its own dispensary. Space has already been set aside outside the consultation room for herbal drawers and a dispensary counter, all in polished mahogany. 'Students need to be trained in dispensing too. Although there is a d i v i s i on of labour between practitioners and dispensers nowadays, all good Chinese doctors do and should have knowledge of this aspect of their field,' Prof. Che points out. To ensure quality and au t hen t i c i t y, on ly na t u r al herbs and ingredients w i l l be used, not processed ingredients in powder form. In the four months since its establishment, the clinic has entertained 1,100 visits and opened over 300 patient files. A t present it is open from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. every weekday afternoon, and f r om 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on Saturday. The patients are spaced quite far apart (by the general standard of Chinese medicine clinics in Hong Kong) w i th only three being allotted to each hour, because time has to be allowed for the practitioner to explain clearly to the students and for the students to take notes. For this reason the clinic has had to reject patients. Prof. Che says, however, that there are plans to extend opening hours so that the students w i l l be exposed to more and different cases and more patients w i l l have access to the services. The price range among local Chinese medicine practitioners is wide. Celebrity doctors get away w i th charging a few hundred and even a few thousand per consultation while others practising in the wet markets of public housing estates charge less than HK$50. The clinic's price tags of HK$80 per consultation and HK$120 per bone-setting or acupuncture session are made after consulting those of qualified practitioners in the market. 'We are not a profit-making unit and our resources come from our teaching budget,' says Prof. Che. The prices we charge cover mainly teaching expenses and items like bed- sheets and acupuncture needles wh i ch cannot be reused, and other consumables.' A t present t he U n i v e r s i t y 's me d i c al benefit scheme does not cover Chinese medicine. Prof. Che indicates that a development worth considering for the clinic w o u l d be f or U n i v e r s i ty members to be reimbursed for their visits to the clinic but he adds that the arrangement is also subject to the decision of the University administration. Comme r c i a l i z a t i on, on the o t her h a n d, w i l l not be a direction of development in the foreseeable future. The clinic w i ll remain non-profit-making and l i m i t ed only to serving members of the Un i v e r s i ty community. Ch i n e se m e d i c i ne is becoming increasingly popular w i t h the younger segment of the population in Hong Kong, a n d a c c o m p a n y i ng t h i s p o p u l a r i t y are c a l ls f o r measures to modernize it, for example, by requiring Chinese m e d i c a l p r a c t i t i o n e rs to register. But does Chinese medicine, which is more about wisdom than intelligence, lend itself to modernization? Would s ome t h i ng be l ost i n the process? ' Reg i s t r a t i on w i l l na r r ow d o wn the inconsistencies in the profession and enable it to flourish. Chinese medical practitioners now need to be able to f u l f il mo d em needs. For example, if a patient tells them he has tonsillitis, they need to know what it is. Modern patients are very likely to consult both Chinese and Western doctors. A t the School of Chinese Medicine, we train our students to be mode rn Chinese medical practitioners 一 professionals who combine ancient w i sdom w i th scientific evidence. We have very high expectations of them,' says Prof. Che. Piera Chen 1. The dispensary awaiting occupatio 2 .Theconsultation room in mahogany 3 . A corner of the clinic 4 . The bone - setting room 5. Marriage of ancient wisdom and modem technology : computerized pulse detectors are used to train students in the basics of pulse detection 3 No. 214 4th January 2003