Date: March 28, 2023

Source: Guangdong Education Headlines

Author: MA Limin, SU Yunsheng

Translator: WANG Shiyu, GONG Liangxue

JNU's School of Traditional Chinese Medicine is listed among the first group of high-level clinical medical, public health and TCM schools announced by the Guangdong Department of Education on Nov. 21. 

South Plus, a new mainstream media platform created by Nanfang Media Group and an authoritative information platform of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and government, inteviewed Chen Jiaxu, dean of the School of TCM. Here are excerpts for the interview. 

South Plus: How is the School of TCM training the talents? 

Chen Jiaxu: The School of TCM, originally a department of the Medical School, was established in September 2016 at JNU. Among 70 faculty members and 741 students, the school now embraces many well-known experts in TCM education, scientific and clinical research. 

Since its establishment, the school has recruited 30 high-level talents and cultivated one winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young and two clinical TCM professionals. It has won two second prizes in the Guangdong Science and Technology Progress Awards. And its biomedical basic research on the emotional diseases theory was named one of the Top 10 Academic Advances in TCM in 2021 by the China Association of Chinese Medicine.

The school is authorized to offer doctoral degrees in the integration of traditional and Western medicine, and it has a postdoctoral research station in the same field. It is also authorized to offer master's degrees in TCM as well as the integration of traditional and Western medicine, and it has professional master's degree authorization in TCM. 

The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong recognized the TCM specialty as qualified for the requirements of TCM vocational qualification test in 2005, and the specialty received professional certification from the Ministry of Education in 2009. In 2015, it was approved to carry out the Educational and Training Reform Pilot Project of Excellent Doctor (TCM) of the Ministry of Education and was listed in the initial national first-class construction program for TCM undergraduate courses in 2019.

(The TCM Clinical Skills Competition in JNU's School of TCM)

South Plus: Jinan University is the paramount school of overseas Chinese students. So the School of TCM must have trained many TCM talents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, right?

Chen: Yes. The TCM specialty at JNU is one of the most popular majors for students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Those who chose this major make up 70% of the students from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese. The passing rate of TCM graduates of JNU taking National Medical Licensing Examination in Hong Kong ranks first in China.

The School of TCM’s Acupuncture Training Center is an institution of international academic exchange and service at JNU. It has trained more than 10,000 doctors and TCM practitioners from more than 20 countries and regions, including Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and countries in Southeast Asia, Japan, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Argentina. 

South Plus: Being listed in the first group of the high-level school construction of TCM in Guangdong will bring new opportunities for the school’s development. What new practices will the school take to achieve high-level development next?

Chen: We will strive to achieve high-level development in five aspects: cultivating high-quality TCM talents; building an all-around TCM research system; nurturing the high-level TCM teaching staff; providing TCM social services, and developing international cooperation on TCM. 

(The TCM Clinical Skills Competition in JNU’s School of TCM)

(The 2017 Academic Seminar on TCM Prescription and Syndrome)

(The launching ceremony of Guangzhou Key Laboratory of TCM Prescription and Syndrome)

South Plus: At present, China is promoting the construction of new medical science. How to build the discipline of TCM?

Chen: I believe that in the process of constructing new medical science, the TCM discipline needs to integrate superior scientific resources of humanities, biomedicine and information science. It should also adhere to cross-disciplines and multi-dimensional collaboration to lead the innovative development of TCM with new medical science.

The TCM discipline is a treasure of ancient Chinese science. We should be confident in the theory, efficacy, science, philosophy and culture of TCM, and work together to build a high-level college of TCM in Guangdong with the characteristics of a school for overseas Chinese.