Found In Translation: Traditional Chinese Medicine comes to South Bank University

Harbin, is the tenth largest city in China.   There is a relatively high incidence of strokes in the local population largely because  of the diet during the exceptionally cold  winters.   Health workers in the city have become so expert in dealing with the consequences of this condition that patients from  European countries such as Switzerland  are sometimes referred there.  

In China, medicine has become 'integrated' without fuss.   Many large Chinese hospitals have adopted approaches from Western medicine, but Traditional Chinese Medicine, from herbalism to acupuncture, is equally part of the mainstream.  Harbin's approach to stroke treatment is a good example of this fusion. 

'Combination therapy' joins together occupational therapy for people learning to reuse their bodies, with scalp acupuncture.  Chinese scientists have found that the two treatments applied together are more effective than delivering separate sessions.  The acupuncturists will rearrange the needles on the patient's head in the course of an OT session to improve the patient's function.  

Modern science gives some insight into how this works.  State of the art  Functional Magnetic Resonance  Imaging scanners reveals  how an acupuncture needle placed in a particular area of the body will activate a corresponding area in the brain.  

The Combination Therapy  is just one of the processes that Professor Mary Lovegrove of  London  South Bank University saw on a trip to understand more about Chinese Medicine.  She says that the Chinese are collecting evidence about the efficacy of these approaches, but they are often unavailable  to practitioners the West. 

'They do collect evidence, but don't always  present or interpret the data in the same way as we might.  There are significant barriers to this information reaching the West:  often it is in Mandarin or only partly in English, very few studies are translated into English and  it is possible that some of the essential information may lost in translation .' 

Lovegrove says that to make judgments about these approaches, it is essential to study them as they are taught and practised in China.   Her plan is for acupuncture students from China and students from London to  study traditional Chinese medicine together in both London and China. They will also learn alongside other western healthcare students for example physiotherapy, occupational therapy and radiography students.

With access to some translations and links inside the country, Lovegrove has developed a rare insight into current Chinese practice. Her links come both from a career that has included frequent trips to Hong Kong and from  London  South Bank University's own strong links in China, largely around teaching accountancy and engineering. 

The Confucius Institute at  London South Bank University

In  February 2008   LSBU formed a partnership with the Chinese government, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine and Harbin  Normal University to create a  Confucius Institute of Chinese Medicine. One of the activities of the Institute is to jointly deliver an  Acupuncture  Degree  programme at  London  South Bank University.   This is the first CI for Traditional Chinese Medicine in the world .

The course will be groundbreaking in many ways.  Firstly, it will be drawing directly from Chinese medicine as it's practiced in the country today.   Clinical specialists from China will come to London to support the delivery of the programme.  Secondly, it's structurally innovative: students will be drawn from both China and the UK, and connect with each other through the internet and by travelling abroad.  Chinese students spend the whole of their second and fourth year in the UK; and all (UK) students have a six month Chinese placement in their third year.  The course is a four year long  Integrated Undergraduate masters programme in Chinese Medicine aimed at students taking a first degree.  

Thirdly, students will take part in interprofessional learning - they will be educated for at least part of their course alongside students of occupational therapy, radiography and physiotherapy.  They will also spend one module with traineee midwives.

Because of the unique teaching structure, students will be  eligible to top up their study to apply for licence to practice in China  as well as the UK .  

Traditionally, Chinese medicine does not draw a line between acupuncture and herbalism, but because of the complexities of changing regulation,  LSBU will teach only acupuncture at least initially.

Traditional Chinese Medicine  in the NHS

At the moment there is only one NHS funded clinic providing Traditional Chinese Medicine - the Gateway Clinic in Lambeth.  GPs may refer to the service for  musculoskeletal pain, headache and migraine and cancer support treatment.  Patients can also self-refer.

Lovegrove says that the power of word-of-mouth means that people hear about the clinic from their neighbours. LSBU will be setting up a training clinic for students on the course, which will mean that  two South London locations with strong links to the health service are practising TCM.

London South Bank University's acupuncture course is just the beginning of a big, ambitious project with powerful and knowledgable partners. This development will provide a vehicle for international research and the potential for greater sharing of knowledge and expertise including dissemination of translated seminal texts. 

It may be the seed that's needed to establish the most useful aspects of TCM as part of  the NHS health armoury.