The Essentials of Chinese Medicine is a text book intended for international students who wish to gain a basic understanding of Chinese Medicine (CM) at the university level. The idea of writing such a text was originated from the Sino-American Consortium for the Advancement of Chinese Medicine (SACACM), which was founded in February 2000. In 1995, the British Hong Kong Administration set up a Preparatory Committee for the Development of Chinese Medicine to look into ways of bringing Chinese medical practice and herbal trade under proper control and r- ulation. After the reuni?cation of Hong Kong with mainland China in 1997, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region continued the efforts to uplift the practice of CM to a fully professional level through legislation. To help bring up a new generation of professional CM practitioners, the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) obtained approval from the Government’s univ- sity funding authority to develop a School of Chinese Medicine to prepare students who will meet the future professional requirements through public examinations. In order to establish itself quickly as a rigorous provider of university level CM education, HKBU sought alliance with eight major CM universities in the Chinese Mainland, and one US university which was interested in developing CM edu- tion within its medical college. As a result, the Consortium known as SACACM was formed, with ten founding institutions from Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Sh- dong, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Heilongjiang, Hong Kong, and the United States.
The modern medical model is gradually shifting from one of biomedicine to one that integrates practices from the physiological, psychological, sociological and medical fields. This growing recognition that people, the environment, ecological conditions and society are all aspects of a united whole has given rise to an emergence of alternative medicine and therapies, many of which are borrowed from traditional Chinese medicine.
Essentials of Chinese Medicine systematically introduces the basic theories, diagnostic methods, therapeutic practices, and the principles of health preservation and rehabilitation of the Chinese medical tradition. The basic theories and methods of acupuncture and moxibustion are explained, and a range of Chinese herbs are illustrated. The textbooks also introduces 84 Chinese herbal formulas and 6 associated formulas commonly used in clinical practice. Furthermore, it elucidates treatments of commonly and frequently encountered diseases in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology.
With a strong emphasis on the fundamental principles of Chinese Medicine, this three-volume set provides concise and systematic content that is suitable for both teaching and self-study.
