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Regulating traditional medicine
Practitioners fear new rules will favour Western educations over training, experience
By Louisa Taylor, The Ottawa Citizen March 20, 2010
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Chinese-trained medical doctor Hui Yu, with colleague Yuqiu Guo, says she welcomes regulation of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners like herself, but she and others feel they will face humiliation by being forced to work under a monitor despite their skill and experience.
Photograph by: Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen
Hui Yu trained as a medical doctor in China, and practised there for 14 years. After immigrating to Canada, she opened a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Ottawa, and has provided acupuncture and herbal remedies to patients for 10 years.
But Hui, 50, and some of her colleagues say proposed new regulations will put them out of business by imposing strict academic and language standards on the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They say that in spite of years of training and experience in the field, they will not qualify if the new rules governing qualifications and language are adopted.
The group drafting the regulations argues strenuously that's not the case -- the rules are still in draft form, and they are seeking input from practitioners. But they have a battle on their hands. Last week in Toronto, at least 300 acupuncturists and other TCM practitioners marched in protest. Among them -- Guo and another Ottawa practitioner, Yuqiu Guo.
The women say they represent 20 of the approximately 30 TCM practitioners in Ottawa. They have written letters to the Transitional Council of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario, threatening litigation if the rules go ahead as drafted, because they will result in practitioners facing "the humiliation and loss of face imposed by forced tutelage."
"We welcome regulation, because it's a good way for the profession to get the respect of the public," says Hui. "But this feels criminal."
Hui says that under the draft regulations circulated last November, she and Guo would not qualify to be members of the proposed provincial College of Traditional Chinese Medicine because their medical degrees do not come from Canada. They believe people with medical, nursing and physiotherapy degrees from Canada -- but not necessarily the same depth of training or experience in Chinese medicine -- will have an easier time becoming a "full member," because they have Western educations.
"They can pass right away, but we can't," says Hui, adding this means foreign-educated practitioners would have to be evaluated for "grandparenting" under the new rules. Even there, they say, they might not qualify: their English and French skills might not be sufficient.
Most upsetting, says Hui, is the suggestion that the evaluation would involve working under a full member of the profession for five years.
"Chinese medicine is an old profession, and it's not Western medicine, it's not physiotherapy, it's not chiropractic," says Hui. "You have to respect that we have our own way, we have a long history, we have a lot of experience."
Much of the criticism is based on information that is simply wrong, says Emily Cheung, registrar of the transitional council, which is responsible for drafting the new rules.
"We will be considering the experience, not just the education," says Cheung. "The individual will have to be able to demonstrate they have experience related to practice of TCM in one way or another."
The council released a statement last week countering what it called the "inaccurate, unfounded and misleading" allegations made by organizers of the Toronto protest. It has also scheduled meetings with TCM practitioners next week in Ottawa and Toronto.
According to Cheung, the transitional council is eager to work with practitioners to find solutions to complex questions, such as how to assess qualifications and how to set parameters for language requirements when many practitioners have limited English or French. Current ideas include requiring the use of a translator, or having records translated regularly, or working with a partner who speaks one of the official languages.
"Nothing is carved in stone yet," says Cheung. "Once TCM is regulated, the services they provide will be promoted by the government, and there will be more patients from the mainstream who seek their service. How do you relate to the patient, and how do you relate the information on the patient to other health care professionals" if you speak neither official language?
While she understands practitioners fear they will lose their livelihood, Cheung says it's important to remember the new rules are intended to protect the public, not the profession.
"We need to guide the profession to live up to standards that are safe and ethical," says Cheung, adding that regulation means if a patient is not happy, "you can complain and there is a body to deal with that."
"The government sees the impact of TCM and now, after all these years, (sees) they deserve to be recognized as health professionals ... Just objecting to the regulations isn't bringing the profession forward."
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Practitioners fear new rules will favour Western educations over training, experience
By Louisa Taylor, The Ottawa Citizen March 20, 2010
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Chinese-trained medical doctor Hui Yu, with colleague Yuqiu Guo, says she welcomes regulation of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners like herself, but she and others feel they will face humiliation by being forced to work under a monitor despite their skill and experience.
Photograph by: Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen, The Ottawa Citizen
Hui Yu trained as a medical doctor in China, and practised there for 14 years. After immigrating to Canada, she opened a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Ottawa, and has provided acupuncture and herbal remedies to patients for 10 years.
But Hui, 50, and some of her colleagues say proposed new regulations will put them out of business by imposing strict academic and language standards on the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). They say that in spite of years of training and experience in the field, they will not qualify if the new rules governing qualifications and language are adopted.
The group drafting the regulations argues strenuously that's not the case -- the rules are still in draft form, and they are seeking input from practitioners. But they have a battle on their hands. Last week in Toronto, at least 300 acupuncturists and other TCM practitioners marched in protest. Among them -- Guo and another Ottawa practitioner, Yuqiu Guo.
The women say they represent 20 of the approximately 30 TCM practitioners in Ottawa. They have written letters to the Transitional Council of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario, threatening litigation if the rules go ahead as drafted, because they will result in practitioners facing "the humiliation and loss of face imposed by forced tutelage."
"We welcome regulation, because it's a good way for the profession to get the respect of the public," says Hui. "But this feels criminal."
Hui says that under the draft regulations circulated last November, she and Guo would not qualify to be members of the proposed provincial College of Traditional Chinese Medicine because their medical degrees do not come from Canada. They believe people with medical, nursing and physiotherapy degrees from Canada -- but not necessarily the same depth of training or experience in Chinese medicine -- will have an easier time becoming a "full member," because they have Western educations.
"They can pass right away, but we can't," says Hui, adding this means foreign-educated practitioners would have to be evaluated for "grandparenting" under the new rules. Even there, they say, they might not qualify: their English and French skills might not be sufficient.
Most upsetting, says Hui, is the suggestion that the evaluation would involve working under a full member of the profession for five years.
"Chinese medicine is an old profession, and it's not Western medicine, it's not physiotherapy, it's not chiropractic," says Hui. "You have to respect that we have our own way, we have a long history, we have a lot of experience."
Much of the criticism is based on information that is simply wrong, says Emily Cheung, registrar of the transitional council, which is responsible for drafting the new rules.
"We will be considering the experience, not just the education," says Cheung. "The individual will have to be able to demonstrate they have experience related to practice of TCM in one way or another."
The council released a statement last week countering what it called the "inaccurate, unfounded and misleading" allegations made by organizers of the Toronto protest. It has also scheduled meetings with TCM practitioners next week in Ottawa and Toronto.
According to Cheung, the transitional council is eager to work with practitioners to find solutions to complex questions, such as how to assess qualifications and how to set parameters for language requirements when many practitioners have limited English or French. Current ideas include requiring the use of a translator, or having records translated regularly, or working with a partner who speaks one of the official languages.
"Nothing is carved in stone yet," says Cheung. "Once TCM is regulated, the services they provide will be promoted by the government, and there will be more patients from the mainstream who seek their service. How do you relate to the patient, and how do you relate the information on the patient to other health care professionals" if you speak neither official language?
While she understands practitioners fear they will lose their livelihood, Cheung says it's important to remember the new rules are intended to protect the public, not the profession.
"We need to guide the profession to live up to standards that are safe and ethical," says Cheung, adding that regulation means if a patient is not happy, "you can complain and there is a body to deal with that."
"The government sees the impact of TCM and now, after all these years, (sees) they deserve to be recognized as health professionals ... Just objecting to the regulations isn't bringing the profession forward."
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
