A Foot in Both Worlds: Education and the Transformation of Chinese Medicine in the United States

Abstract

Although insufficiently studied, schools of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) provide substantial insight into the transformation of medicine in the United States. Scholars have suggested that the increasing acceptance of CAM is due to its alignment with biomedical models of professionalization, education, research, and practice. At West Coast University, students of acupuncture and Oriental medicine learn to straddle both Western and Eastern medical worlds through an increasingly science-oriented curriculum and the inculcation of professional values associated with West Coast University's emphasis upon integration with Western medicine as a means of achieving professional status and legitimacy vis-à-vis the dominant biomedical paradigm. The implications of integration with biomedicine for the identity of Chinese medicine are discussed: from the perspective of critical medical anthropology, integration reproduces biomedical hegemony; paving the way toward co-optation of Chinese medicine, the subordination of its practitioners, and, ultimately, the constraint of medical pluralism in the United States.

Keywords:

• alternative and complementary medicine
• critical medical anthropology
• education
• integration
• professionalization

Notes

The designation “acupuncture and Oriental medicine” is utilized by most schools in the United States to indicate the inclusion of other forms of Asian medicine in the program. The term “Chinese medicine” refers to the heterogeneous body of medicine from China that has evolved over thousands of years, and which includes the practices of acupuncture, moxabustion, herbology, and body work. In terms of the form of acupuncture taught at West Coast University, it is Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, which is also the most commonly taught form of acupuncture in China.

Described in the catalogue as a “palpation-based acupuncture” based on “concepts and techniques used in contemporary Japanese acupuncture.”

Described as presenting “the French system of ear acupuncture developed by Paul F. M. Nogier, MD, a complete system of healthcare which differs from Traditional Chinese Medicine.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hannah Flesch

HANNAH FLESCH is a medical anthropologist with research interests in complementary and alternative medicine, integrative medicine, medical education, and health policy.