The Focus Group – CTCMA

Five of our board members (William O. Hardman, Weidong Yu, Edward Liu, John Yang, Daeyou Kim, and Beverly Osachoff) participated in a focus group held by the CTCMA on January 25th, voicing our members’ convictions that they want to enjoy a broad scope of practice in BC and the full toolbox of modern tools that enhance the complex array of what we do in our clinics. ATCMA members Rod LeBlanc and Phillipe Souvestre were unable to attend, but shared their perspective via a pre-prepared submission. This focus group was a follow up to the email survey that registrants received last fall asking how we felt about various techniques and protocols and who should be doing them.

五位理事（William O. Hardman，于卫东，刘宝第，杨光芳，Daeyou Kim, and Beverly Osachoff)在1月25日参加了CTCMA举办的核心小组会议，并传达了会员的心声。BC省的中医需要一个更广大的发展空间，也希望在未来可以合法使用传统中医所能包括的所有诊疗手段，并可以借助一些现代医疗手段来帮助临床诊疗。协会成员Rod LeBlanc 和Phillipe Souvestre 也参与了此次会议，尽管没能够亲临现场，但他们通过提交的材料也表达了各自的观点。

We learned that the language and legislation are changing – mostly in response to changing times – and that registrants in BC are poised to see our reserved acts broaden in scope instead. If we understand correctly, this means that if the CTCMA approves our recommendations there is a greater likelihood that our industry will have legislation behind us to allow us to embrace not only the full spectrum of TCM techniques, but also the plethora of modern diagnostic and therapeutic tools that are the realities of our time.

通过此次活动，我们了解到管理局的用词和法规都在改变。尤其是在当下这个转变的时期。然而BC省的执业者们都在静观我们对扩大业务范围所表现出的合理反应。如果我们的理解没有偏差，这意味着如果CTCMA批准我们的提议，很有可能中医不仅可以合法使用所有传统诊疗手段，还可以借助当前丰富的现代医学的诊疗手段。

Some participants reminded us of the need to stay true to the basics of TCM, and we agree this is vital to our trade. We suggest, however, that if the ancient Masters of TCM had had access to the sophisticated tools we have today, they would certainly have embraced them with great delight. In the end, it is not the tools that we use in our clinics that set us aside from anyone else claiming to do what we do without a TCM background, it is the fundamental framework of understanding – our TCM knowledge – that makes our skill sets special. We did not lose the fundamentals of acupuncture when we moved from stone needles to fine steel needles, nor should we lose anything fundamental if the needle of today is made of photons instead of stone; The traditions are what matter.

有些同行认为我们应该传承中医固有的思维方式。这对中医来说至关重要。但设想如果古圣先贤看到今天如此之先进的科技手段，相信他们也会毫不犹豫的使之为中医所用。一个中医的好坏并不取决于他们手中的器具，而是取决于他们的理论见地和临证思维。正如当针灸器具由古代的砭针变成现在的钢制针，针灸的精髓并没有随之改变。

It was a complex day, but we left the meeting feeling that we had aired all of our member’s concerns and reinforced what the consultants told us they already knew – that BC’s TCM and Acupuncture practitioners are passionate, professional, and responsible and we hold our patients and their safety in high regard. Stay tuned to the CTCMA for further updates.

尽管我们度过了漫长的一天，但是离开时心中又是坦然的。因为我们把会员所有的疑虑都已传达，并且让他们知道BC省的执业者热爱中医，专业负责。在我们心中患者安危至上。请大家一起关注CTCMA的反馈。