China and the current teaching programs of its traditional medicine in the High Education

Abstract

The chinese traditional medicine has a millenary history. Currently it arouses a growing interest that has determined an increase in the capacitating demands of the health care givers.  In China, the Chinese traditional medicine accounts for the 40 % of the health care, and with the government support it has improved its academic level. We carried out the following analysis with the objective of determining the historical antecedents of the traditional Chinese medicine and the current status of its teaching in the high education system of the so called “Asiatic giant”. We determined that historically the chinese traditional medicine teaching has, as main transmittal form the so called “secret”, “personal” and “standardized” forms. The last one has its antecedents in institutions dating from the times of the Tang dynasty. After a period of decadency at the end of the Qing dynasty and during the Kuomintang Republic, the Chinese traditional medicine has achieved a great development in the scenery of the Chinese high education with a significant government support. This development has allowed the universalization of its teaching around the nation, and some universities has reached the level of collaborating centers of the World Health Organization. The teaching programs have evolved in the time, and currently they allow the specialization in different areas of the Chinese traditional medicine, form the level of graduated to the postdoctoral level.