Since the implementation of the standardized training system for resident doctors, students majoring in Western medicine can only apply for the Western medicine training base, and the Chinese medicine category can only apply for the Chinese medicine training base.
Because there is no category of traditional Chinese and Western medicine in the current training direction, students majoring in traditional Chinese and Western medicine are also classified as traditional Chinese medicine, and can only choose the training major from the two professional categories of traditional Chinese medicine or general practice of traditional Chinese medicine.
Traditional Chinese medicine is a great creation of the Chinese nation, a treasure of ancient Chinese science, and the key to opening the treasure house of Chinese civilization. With the successful convening of the National Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine" was issued and implemented by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. The Hebei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Hebei Provincial People's Government issued the "Several Measures to Promote the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine".
This year, with the relevant provisions of the "Several Measures to Promote the Inheritance, Innovation and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine" issued by the Hebei Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Hebei Provincial People's Government, Hebei Province proposed for the first time in the 2024 Standardized Training Enrollment Notice for Resident Doctors:
Professionals with a full-time bachelor's degree or above in integrative medicine are allowed to participate in standardized residency training for clinical general practitioners.
It is mentioned in the improvement of the training model of traditional Chinese medicine talents. Support all levels and types of medical institutions to set up traditional Chinese medicine (specialty) physician positions. Encourage Western medicine to learn Chinese medicine. Adjust and improve the standardized training model of TCM residents, pay attention to cultivating and promoting outstanding TCM talents, and establish a system of apprenticeship for senior TCM physicians, which is linked to the evaluation of professional titles and the evaluation of excellence.
The first is to encourage Western medicine to learn traditional Chinese medicine, and allow clinical doctors to provide traditional Chinese medicine services after passing the assessment, and participate in the evaluation of professional titles of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
The second is to encourage famous Chinese medicine practitioners at all levels in our city to train young Chinese medicine practitioners through the form of mentoring and apprenticeship.
The third is to allow integrative medicine professionals to participate in standardized training for general practitioners in clinical categories.
Image source: The official website of the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao City
Image source: The official website of the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University
Image source: Handan First Hospital
This new regulation undoubtedly provides more opportunities and possibilities for students majoring in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, but there are also risks such as whether the certificate is widely recognized after the end of the training.
The first thing you need to know about the specialty of integrative medicine is that you need to know
- In the general concept, "clinical medicine" refers to the clinical specialty of Western medicine, and does not include the specialty of traditional Chinese medicine and the specialty of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
- After graduating from the major of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, you cannot apply for the qualification of clinical practitioner.
- Whether it is traditional Chinese medicine or integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, after graduating from the bachelor's degree, it is no longer possible to apply for the postgraduate degree of clinical medicine across disciplines.
Employment direction of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine
If you choose to major in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, according to the latest policy, the door to obtain a postgraduate degree in clinical medicine through interdisciplinary postgraduate examination has been closed. In addition, if you apply for the major of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, according to the scope of practice of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine practitioners, you will mainly work in traditional Chinese medicine hospitals or integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine hospitals or community hospitals in the future, because many general hospitals do not recruit doctors specializing in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine!
Career prospects of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine
As an interdisciplinary discipline, students also need to learn Western medicine-related courses while learning traditional Chinese medicine courses, although on the whole, the curriculum is not much different from that of traditional Chinese medicine, but in fact, the requirements for the curriculum and the depth of the lectures are different for different majors, so students' mastery of related courses is also different.
Theoretically speaking, students majoring in integrated Chinese and Western medicine have both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine skills, and the employment prospects should be quite broad, but the employment prospects of this major in China are not very good. The main reason is that due to the limitation of the length of study, it is difficult for students to be proficient in both Chinese medicine and Western medicine within the specified time, so most of the graduates are significantly lower than students in a single major in terms of both the diagnosis and treatment level of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Secondly, there are fewer departments of integrated Chinese and Western medicine in hospitals, and many Chinese medicine hospitals are more inclined to choose students with simple Chinese medicine backgrounds, and Western medicine hospitals are also more willing to choose graduates from Western medicine, so these graduates will face difficulties in finding employment in hospitals; It is also a good option to open a clinic on your own or work in the health management department.