Online world-class TCM course a pipe-dream?

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Kath,

 

Kath wrote:

> ... maybe ... the talking head style lecturing could be done online.

> advantages are that top faculty from diverse geographic locations could

> be enlisted, and students could use the unused travel time to study.

> Obviously many courses ... require hands-on learning. Perhaps this

> could happen in periodic modules which might eliminate the necessity of

> living on or near a physical campus. ... This approach could be

> especially useful in helping LAcs with practices earn a clinical

> doctorate.

 

I would expand Kath's suggestion to include an online world-class TCM

course, incorporating Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and acupuncture

(AP).

 

IMO, that course should be at NOMINAL cost (if not entirely free) to

any student or professional who wishes to take it. Students in most

countries and many practitioners, especially in poorer countries,

would value free expert tuition very highly.

 

I know that the idea will be resisted by existing TCM schools /

courses and professional TCM lecturers / authors because they would

fear that a free expert course would threaten the substantial income

that they derive from their existing courses / lectures / books.

 

However, those fears could be allayed, at least partially, if this

course were presented as a SUPPLEMENT to existing formal courses, and

if students who wished to receive formal certification of competence

to practice had to sit their certification exams under existing

national regulations.

 

FEASABILITY?:

For a world-class online course to succeed, its CONTENT should be

designed, edited and updated periodically by world-class TCM experts.

Such a course would require enormous time-input and open-hearted

cooperation from hundreds of busy professionals (authors, lecturers,

clinicians, non-TCM reviewers, webpage designers, etc).

 

Is it realistic to expect professionals to do that work for free, or

for nominal honoraria?

 

Some ideas for discussion:

 

1. COURSE CONTENT

If we are to realise such a course, we need to discuss the following

internationally:

 

The course should be structured from BASIC principles and practice

[Module 101], through to advanced principles and practice [Module

XXX]

 

What will be included as core teaching and what will be OMITTED must

be agreed.

 

Module 101 should begin with the principles of the Hippocratic Oath

[especially: " First do no harm " ].

 

It should state that life, including science and medicine, is

evolving / changing as environmental factors change and new knowledge

accrues.

 

It should state that NO EXISTING MEDICAL SYSTEM has (or can have) ALL

the answers and that INTEGRATION of the best concepts and practices

from many different systems should be the long-term goal of medicine.

Lin Jen-Hsou DVM, PhD [Taipei] summarised this very well in his

father-in-law's beautiful calligraphy to IVAS [intnl Vet AP Soc]:

 

It does not matter whether medicine is old or new,

so long as it brings a cure.

It matters not whether theories be Eastern or Western,

so long as they prove to be true.

 

COURSE MODULE 101 should begin with a list of the most inportant TCM

Terms in simple Chinese characters, Pinyin AND meaning.

 

For example Yinxu Huoyan Yin Vacuity Fire Flaming. [in later

modules, the clinical manifestation of these terms can be described

in detail].

 

There is no international agreement on TCM terminology. Though the

terminology of Wiseman et al is the front runner, several other

terminologies exist, including that of WHO.

 

Therefore, the TCM Course should include a glossary that integrates

[compares and contrasts] the various terminologies in common use.

 

MODULE 101 should stress that many TCM concepts are NOT MEANT to be

taken as literally / anatomically / physiologically correct. They are

METAPHORICAL aids to thinking and decision-making.

 

For example:

Bentun Qi-Running Piglet Qi is a metaphor for a SENSATION of

Abnormal Qi Movement AS IF a piglet squirms / rushes upwards from the

lower abdomen to the chest, epigastrium and throat. Ganfeng-Liver

Wind

 

Changfeng- Intestinal Wind is a metaphor for Intestinal Wind

Attack, causing haematochezia with red faecal blood, as in colorectal

cancer; it is not actual wind in the gut, or flatus

 

MODULE 101 should summarise the principles and practice of infection

control. It should state baldly that acupuncture needles should be

discarded after a single use. Under no circumstances should needles

be reused, even after prolonged autoclaving.

 

An early module on CHM should BAN the use of SECRET formulas, or

inadequately labelled herbs / formulas.

 

It should WARN practitioners to use ONLY CMs / Formulas from

manufacturers with certified and monitored GMP status, and whose

products are labelled to show ALL ingredients and their inclusion

rates [labelling in Chinese AND local language to meet stringent

international standards].

 

The names of TOXIC, banned and undesirable CMs and formulas should be

listed in a special file.

 

References to meds obtained from endangered species of plants /

animals [listed in CITES - Xijiao-Rhino Horn, etc], or CMs from

animals that may have been subjected to cruel practices [Xiongdan-

Bear Bile, Goushen-Dog Genitals, etc] should be removed, or foot-

noted to suggest suitable acceptable alternatives.

 

References to human / animal-derived CMs that may pose hygiene- or

aesthetic- concerns [Ziheche-Human Placenta, Renzhongbai-Urine~ Human

Deposit, Yemingsha-Bat Dung, etc] should be treated similarly.

 

Where possible, CMs derived from animals / insects / or their body

tissues should be treated similarly.

 

References to TOXIC plant- [Leigongteng-Rx Tripterygii Wilfordii,

Hongdaji-Rx Euphorbiae / Knoxiae, Maqianzi-S Strychni, etc], animal-

[Quanxie-Scorpio, Chansu-Venenum Bufonis, etc], or mineral- [ZHUSHA-

Cinnabaris, QIANDAN-Minium, XIONGHUANG-Realgar, etc] CMs should be

treated similarly.

 

Reported CAUTIONS and CIs should be listed.

 

Reported side-effects / adverse reactions of each CM or procedure

should be listed, preferably with steps to prevent or treat those.

 

Reported CM-CM or CM-WM interactions should be listed.

 

BEFORE uploading to WWW, the COURSE CONTENT must be vetted by

international TCM experts and agreed to be world-class. It must be as

free as possible of controversial material, scientific and

grammatical error and typos.

 

Whether or not such a course is CLOSED [password-protected] or OPEN-

SOURCE [freely available to all with WWW access], we must assume that

the complete course content WILL be hacked and leaked to the

opponents of TCM within days of going online.

 

Therefore, TCM opponents / skeptics will use ANY " weaknesses " ,

especially controversial material and scientific error in the course

content as " proof " that the TCM profession teaches and accepts errors

or irrationalities.

 

BEFORE uploading the agreed TCM course, the entire text should be

reviewed critically by pre-selected medical, veterinary and other

biology professionals who are NOT trained in TCM, but whom we know to

be open-minded about it.

 

Any serious issues raised by the NON-TCM reviewers should be

addressed to THEIR satisfaction before release of the course on WWW.

 

Critical scientific review BEFORE release would reduce the amount of

controversial material in the course, thus reducing the capacity of

TCM opponents to cite it as evidence to support their own antipathy

to it.

 

2. COURSE PRESENTATION

For optimal impact, webpage design and presentation would require

input from professionals with proven expertise in presenting online

teaching materials.

 

3. EXAM QUESTIONS

The author of each page / lecture could design online exam questions,

based on his / her material, with automatic return to users of the

most correct answers.

 

4. COURSE UPDATES

Errors reported by users would need correction. Lectures and

technical details would need updating periodically.

 

Is this a pipe-dream?

 

Best regards,

 

[Guest guest]

Phil

 

Certainly not a pipe dream.

I envision such a pleasant aroma from your Meerschaum Pipe. lol

 

Warm regards,'Richard

 

 

In a message dated 4/25/2010 1:45:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

writes:

 

Is this a pipe-dream?

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hey all,

 

I am sorry I am a little behind on my posting as I have been in production mode,

but some thoughts:

 

We as acupuncturists generally hold to the poverty mentality, meaning we " don't

have much money so everything should be free " mentality. Phil's suggestion that

an online school such as this should be virtually free is a pipe dream.

 

The truth as anyone who is in the Data creation business will tell you, is that

information is not free. Someone has to pay for it. The cost of building a web

application that could hold multiple classes with video streaming and test

taking, etc. It is almost ridiculous to talk about.

 

So even if someone millionaire was kind enough to build something like this for

the populace, then how are you going to populate the school with Data? Who is

going to volunteer to create all of that Data for us? Are we each going to put

in 10 hours a week to build tests, etc.?

 

The only way something like this will get built, is if a business person thinks

that money can be made off such a scheme. And if it goes through R & D and it

is still decided it is feasible, then the costs are going to be front loaded for

the people who attend the school initially and probably into the first ten

years.

 

I don't mean to be a buzz kill for an online school, but lets be a little

practical and actually think about a business model. The online seminars work

because we all need CEU's to keep our license and they are convenient. But they

are also not cheap, and certainly not free (except for the occasional 1 hour

promo). My guess is that someone were to build an online school, the price

would be very similar to the cost of an official TCM school.

 

Lastly, I have found online classes to generally lack dynamism and that the

education uses a sort of a one size fits all model. Sure most of our schools in

America are becoming more and more like this model, but I think most of us can

think of at least one professor who took a personal interest in our learning,

and gave us something more than they had to. It is the relationships that are

built in our educational facilities (and our myths and legends within the

profession) that inspire us to be greater and better practitioners. On the

internet, you can be anyone that you want to be, as long as you have a keyboard.

My guess is the people that like to have heated discussions in this anonymous

way (on the list serv) would be a little less opinionated in person when they

have to defend their points. My point is that for everything that we do/ learn,

the human to human contact on an everyday basis with each other, and our clients

is paramount to our " practice. " I don't think that good patient and people

relations can be taught over a digital medium.

 

As my practice grows and I experience more and more people with an ever widening

circle of issues, and I interact with more and more of my peers, I can solidly

say that I am against any form of " canned " education.

 

I am glad that was kind enough to spend the money necessary to design and

build this list_serv, keep it relatively bug free, keep it updated to the most

modern web standards, and pay for the many servers all over the world that it

takes to keep something like this running, so that I could deliver my thoughts

to you and celebrate the free-ness of this list_serv.

 

Sincerely,

L.Ac.

The Database

[Guest guest]

Phil,

I applaud your scholarship and your generous heart.

However, I agree with Jonathon who has had experience with online education

for at least a few years now. It will be difficult to pull-off and keep

running,

but I don't think it's impossible. If you really want to do it, you can

make it happen.

 

Of course, you will get a lot of slack from those who spent years of

grueling work to get their licenses and then there's the inherent danger of

those who have not really received a proper education (the student's fault,

not the online course), who will think of themselves as experts in the

field, possibly hurting patients with improper advice or even physical

damage, possibly defaming the profession etc. Of course, this is possible

with an online education scenario or in-person scenario, but the impersonal

nature of online courses raises the probability of this pit-fall.

 

This philosophical idea has connection with the other thread about who

should make decisions for the profession.... do we truly want to live in

a world where everyone has the same voting power? ie. a janitor, a

prostitute, a convict, an employed person, a banker, an intellectual, a

senator's son...

Do we think that everyone on the planet should have access to the powerful

tools that we have at our disposal? Will there be any filters at all?

These are questions that have been asked for millennia and to rock the boat

would be truly revolutionary.

 

The internet really has the capacity and if you can learn TCM from books,

why not through an interactive media site? It's possible, but is it truly

the best way to disseminate doctors into the world? Btw... is the school

going to be taught in English or Mandarin? Because that's going to limit

who can really benefit from this project. What about starting schools in

third world countries? I really like what the Pan-African Acupuncture

Project is doing.... teaching indigenous healers how to practice

acupuncture, so that these practitioners can help their own circle of people

in even greater ways. http://panafricanacupuncture.org/

 

Best of luck; there is free will in a free world.

K

 

 

 

K

 

 

 

 

On Sat, May 1, 2010 at 6:23 PM, Chinese Medicine

<jonk2012wrote:

 

>

>

> Hey all,

>

> I am sorry I am a little behind on my posting as I have been in production

> mode, but some thoughts:

>

> We as acupuncturists generally hold to the poverty mentality, meaning we

> " don't have much money so everything should be free " mentality. Phil's

> suggestion that an online school such as this should be virtually free is a

> pipe dream.

>

> The truth as anyone who is in the Data creation business will tell you, is

> that information is not free. Someone has to pay for it. The cost of

> building a web application that could hold multiple classes with video

> streaming and test taking, etc. It is almost ridiculous to talk about.

>

> So even if someone millionaire was kind enough to build something like this

> for the populace, then how are you going to populate the school with Data?

> Who is going to volunteer to create all of that Data for us? Are we each

> going to put in 10 hours a week to build tests, etc.?

>

> The only way something like this will get built, is if a business person

> thinks that money can be made off such a scheme. And if it goes through R &

> D and it is still decided it is feasible, then the costs are going to be

> front loaded for the people who attend the school initially and probably

> into the first ten years.

>

> I don't mean to be a buzz kill for an online school, but lets be a little

> practical and actually think about a business model. The online seminars

> work because we all need CEU's to keep our license and they are convenient.

> But they are also not cheap, and certainly not free (except for the

> occasional 1 hour promo). My guess is that someone were to build an online

> school, the price would be very similar to the cost of an official TCM

> school.

>

> Lastly, I have found online classes to generally lack dynamism and that the

> education uses a sort of a one size fits all model. Sure most of our schools

> in America are becoming more and more like this model, but I think most of

> us can think of at least one professor who took a personal interest in our

> learning, and gave us something more than they had to. It is the

> relationships that are built in our educational facilities (and our myths

> and legends within the profession) that inspire us to be greater and better

> practitioners. On the internet, you can be anyone that you want to be, as

> long as you have a keyboard. My guess is the people that like to have heated

> discussions in this anonymous way (on the list serv) would be a little less

> opinionated in person when they have to defend their points. My point is

> that for everything that we do/ learn, the human to human contact on an

> everyday basis with each other, and our clients is paramount to our

> " practice. " I don't think that good patient and people relations can be

> taught over a digital medium.

>

> As my practice grows and I experience more and more people with an ever

> widening circle of issues, and I interact with more and more of my peers, I

> can solidly say that I am against any form of " canned " education.

>

> I am glad that was kind enough to spend the money necessary to design

> and build this list_serv, keep it relatively bug free, keep it updated to

> the most modern web standards, and pay for the many servers all over the

> world that it takes to keep something like this running, so that I could

> deliver my thoughts to you and celebrate the free-ness of this list_serv.

>

> Sincerely,

> L.Ac.

> The Database

>

>

>

 

 

 

--

 

 

""

 

 

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