Shanghai Training 2016
TCMzone Herbal Training in China – May 2016
By Jennifer Knapp
From May 13 to 28, I had the pleasure to lead a group of American herbalists and acupuncturists to China for TCMzone’s 2-week clinical training. As the liaison and leader from TCMzone, my role was to coordinate the students with the doctors, professors, translators and guides, while also keeping the group together, happy, comfortable, on time and basically assist in any way that I could to create a cohesive group adventure.
After traveling for over 15 hours we arrived in Beijing. With a group of nearly 30 professional members and some of their family, the tours proved to be fun and energetic. We made our way throughout some of the most famous cultural and historical landmarks in China, including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace in Beijing. The fact that we were able to see so much in such a short time (only 1.5 days) was incredible and our tour guide Mark and driver, Mr. Zhang should be applauded for taking care of us and keeping such a large group together and under control.
After we said good bye to Beijing, we hopped on the bullet train (gao tie) to head for Shanghai, which would be our home base for the next 2 weeks during our training at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Meicine (SHUTCM). The 4- hour train ride was smooth. I met with our assistant and helpful interpreter, Emma the next morning. She was ready to jump right in and help to make the group comfortable in our new home city, Shanghai. We walked a short walk to Longhua Hospital. We must have looked like quite a sight, all 24 of us, U.S. tourists walking single filed through the busy streets of Shanghai. It was a feat in itself to cross the busy streets of Shanghai with the enormous amount of cars, motorized bikes and pedestrians that continuously roam the streets throughout the day. When we arrived at Longhua Hospital, we were graciously met by our interpreters, including our fearless leader Ms. Chouping Han. Without Ms. Han, this training would not have been the fulfilling experience that it was. We owe much thanks to her for this trip. Then, we divided into 5 different groups for rounds, and each group was enlisted with their own interpreter. I went with a different group each day in order to gain perspective on each department and capture photos.
The clinic rounds consisted of outpatient and inpatient departments and each group moved to a new department every day. The departments included Gynecology, Traumatology, Digestive (Spleen and Stomach), Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Dermatology and Acupuncture. I jumped around from group to group and some of the memorable moments I remember included our time in the Spleen & Stomach (Digestive) department with Dr. Wu, who thoroughly engaged the students with inpatient cases and an intimate discussion in his office afterwards. During the office discussion, students were given an opportunity to ask about specific patient cases and even receive treatment protocols for their own health questions. Also, the visit to traumatology was eye opening, as the students were able to view the doctor giving herbal medicine treatments through patches and kinesiology tape. This was invaluable to witness. While waiting for the busy doctor in the Oncology department, one group was taken by the nurses to the new smokeless moxisbustion machine. It was incredible. Many of the students had an opportunity to try it out for themselves, from the full body moxa that wrapped around your waist to the individual moxa lines that can be affixed to any part of the body.
Following each morning of clinical rounds, the students attended their afternoon lectures. Each day was a different lecture, given by a different doctor. The topics ranged from Cardiology to Autoimmune Disorders. This was a great time for students to embrace the details of how each doctor treated varying conditions with plenty of time for Q&A directly with doctors. Some of the doctors spoke English and had English slides, while others only spoke Chinese and had Chinese slides. For those Chinese speaking doctors, we had our wonderful Ms. Han to beautifully interpret for us. Some of the more memorable lectures were Arthritis, wherein the doctor provided photographic images of specific arthritic conditions that she was seeing and the given herbal medicine protocols for these. During the cardiology lecture, the doctor was kind enough to provide students with the individual herbs and dosages for her specific cases. These protocols were based on her and her teams vast clinical experience. The lectures provided a calm and comfortable environment for discussion, questions and in depth analysis for notes. It was a good reprieve and follow-up to the clinical rounds.
At the end of the 2-week training and the graduation/closing ceremony, we invited our students to join us on a trip to our TCMzone herbal manufacturer, Tiangjiang Pharmaceutical Co. located in Jiangyin, about 2-hours from Shanghai. At the manufacturer we toured the facilities, learned about their herb granule processing techniques, and the quality control that goes into manufacturing each herbal granule. We were met by chairperson, Dr. Jialin Zhang and Marketing Manager, Mr. Jiangang Wang. Mr. Wang, along with our interpreter Jessica took us on a tour of the museum, which highlighted the many accolades of this impressive herbal manufacturer, including the well earned title of #1 granule herbal producer in China. This high technology manufacturing plant is automated from top to bottom to produce the highest quality (HPLC, TLC tests), purest herbal products. I have experienced the effectiveness of our herbs working here for over 13 years, but it was exceptional to see first-hand, why our herbs are so effective and the intense process it takes to bring them to our final delivery system.
Our final day in Shanghai brings us to Yida Herb Garden, where we finally get to see over 500 herbs in a guided tour of the garden. It was a rainy day, but armed with our umbrellas and raincoats we headed out to see what this garden had to offer. We were pleasantly surprised to see that we virtually had the garden to ourselves and could roam through the fields at our own desired pace. We looped through greenhouses of shi hu and stone pathways of dan shen and pu gong yin. We toured a museum with ancient herbal medicine cabinets and tools, as well as housing lu jiao, rou gui and more. After a pleasant lunch at the garden, we headed back to our hotel to relax and prepare for our long flight home the next day.
To say that this was a once in a lifetime experience is absolutely fitting and it opened my eyes to an entire world of ideas and possibilities through travel, cultural identity, international healthcare and above all Chinese medicine. I am proud to work for a company like TCMzone, LLC., where we value continuing education in our field of Chinese medicine and Acupuncture. I’m also humbled by the doctors, professors, interpreters and herbalists that I had the pleasure to meet and work with. My outlook has permanently changed for the better and I’ve learned an immense amount from this experience I will apply to future TCMzone China trainings and tours that will only make these trips better and better for all!
To contact Jennifer Knapp, please call 1-480-968-8880 or visit www.TCMzone.com
TCM Herbal Clinical Training in Shanghai, May 13-28, 2016
7-day Herbal Clinic and Lecture Training at Longhua Hospital, Shanghai TCM University with 21 PDA’s and 10 Clinic Hours (NCCAOM)*
This clinical training will be held at the renowned Longhua Hospital at Shanghai TCM University, and will be an extensive Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal training that will include both lecture and clinical rounds in herbal medicine. This program is designed for those who are seeking to advance their TCM herbal skills and those who are interested in TCM herbal growth, production and usage in China. You will be learning from some of the most revered teachers and doctors in the world. The program is set-up to focus on rotations through several out-patient departments and will enable participants to learn in-depth clinical herbal knowledge in one of the oldest Chinese Medicine hospitals in Shanghai, China. In addition, afternoon-seminars will be taught by professor level clinicians to cover herbal medicine treatment in a variety of areas. We will also be visiting one of the top manufacturers of Traditional Chinese Medicinal herbs, Tiangjiang Pharmaceutical Co., as well as an exclusive herbal farm illustrating the importance of “Dao Di’ principles in harvesting herbs. To further enhance participants’ understanding of Chinese culture, a two-day sightseeing of Beijing and one-day city tour of Shanghai are included. Trip Itinerary at a Glance May 13 (Fri.): Flight leaves your choices of cities in U.S., arrives May 14 (Sat.) Beijing Capital Int’l Airport, group travels to hotel May 15 (Sun.) – May 16 (Mon.): Sightseeing tours in Beijing (Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, etc.) May 16 (Mon.): High-speed bullet train “Gao Tie” from Beijing to Shanghai May 17 (Tues.) – May 20 (Fri.): Chinese Medicine Herbal Training (Shanghai Univ. of TCM (A.M.-Clinic Rotations, P.M.-Classroom Lectures) May 21 (Sat.): Sightseeing tour in Shanghai May 22 (Sun.): Rest/Free Day May 23 (Mon.) – May 25 (Wed.): Chinese Medicine Herbal Training (Shanghai Univ. of TCM (A.M.-Clinic Rotations, P.M.-Classroom Lectures) May 26 (Thurs.): Visit and tour Tiangjiang Pharmaceutical Co. May 27 (Fri.): Visit and Tour Chinese Medicine herb farm May 28 (Sat.): Depart Shanghai Pudong Airport for the U.S.