Keep writing your letters so we ensure our voices are heard and the government receives clear and consistent messaging about what we want, but the good news is that the proposed changes are on hold for now!

#1: Chinese herbal medicine must remain a restricted act

The proposed document removes this from our restricted acts list: We’d like a return of the wording to ensure public safety:
No person other than a
…(d) traditional Chinese medicine practitioner or a herbalist may prescribe those Chinese herbal formulae listed in a schedule to the bylaws of the College…
It’s critical that Chinese herbal medicine is a restricted act! It’s important for our patients and the public to know that Chinese herbal medicine is being practiced safely and is properly regulated. They need to know that Chinese herbal medicine is PRESCRIBED.

#2: The CTCMA’s 2015/2017 regulation amendment proposal should be adopted in full

We have been promised a scope update/modernization for almost 10 years… If it isn’t done now, it will be years before it is done.
Updates proposed by the CTCMA include:
•Important techniques used around the world by TCM practitioners
•Techniques that are part of core competencies
•Modern tools that are used safely in practice (estim, ultrasound, PIT), and that the CTCMA is willing to regulate

#3: The regulation must retain Chinese medicine terminology

Chinese medicine terminology in Mandarin Chinese pinyin is widely accepted and known by practitioners and the public
Translating these terms into English without retaining the Chinese terms whitewashes the terminology

#4: Scope definitions by registrant title must be retained

The ATCMA does not object to TCM being an umbrella term for all methods of treatment used in our practice. This was proposed by the CTCMA to ensure that the public knows that everyone practicing acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine is part of ONE profession.
HOWEVER, for public safety it is essential that the scope definitions for R.Ac, R.TCM.H, R.TCM.P and Dr.TCM are retained in the regulation.

Take action NOW! Write to the MOH Professional Regulation and Oversight Branch: PROREGADMIN@gov.bc.ca

1.    Request a meeting with your MLA to discuss this issue.

2.    Ask your patients, friends and family to write to proregadmin@gov.bc.ca as well.

3.    It is CRITICAL that you write a letter to Pro Reg! They asked for feedback, and we have a window of opportunity to provide it. Even though the government has responded to feedback by putting a pause on their initial proposal, we need them to hear a concerted and clear message about what changes we want made.

4.    Help us help you! Join ATCMA because the more members we have, the more the government will listen to us. Plus, our board members are all volunteers, but some of the work we do and would like to do to advocate for TCM has a cost.

FORM LETTERS AND COPIED TEMPLATES WILL NOT WORK! Government does NOT have to read form letters. They are allowed to discard them and not take them seriously. We need to make the MOH Pro Reg branch do their job and read every word of every letter that is sent in. If they see a template or form letter, they will not read it.

PETITIONS WILL NOT WORK! They can only be presented in the Legislature by an MLA. It is too late for that to happen because the Legislature is already sitting.

Some background:

The government has proposed amendments to Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists (PDF, 147KB) Regulation to better align it to the Health Professions Act model (shared scope of practice and restricted activities).

They are positioning it as a modernization of our regulation to align with the Health Professions Act, as our current regulation does not align with it on items that concern shared scope of practice with other professions, as well as restricted activities. That means when an activity can be performed by more than one profession, the regulation needs to spell out the parameters for that activity. In our case, we have some shared scope with naturopaths for herbal medicine and acupuncture, and physiotherapists for needling.

Basically, the regulation needs to be amended in preparation for both amalgamation and the Healthcare Professions and Occupations Act. They are making changes now because amalgamation will “officially” be in effect on June 28 this year. We have been waiting for a review to modernize our scope for almost a decade.

On January 23, 2024 the Ministry of Health Professional Regulation and Oversight Branch (Pro Reg) issued a proposed update to the TCMPA regulation. Most of the changes are concerning.

Some need some clarification. There were also some glaring omissions – the 2015/2017 CTCMA proposal included many important updates to reflect modern practice, and to help keep TCM and acupuncture safe, for example:

●    Adding prescribing authority of a select list of Restricted Chinese Medicines, for example, some toxic herbs that should only be available through prescription by a TCM Practitioner or Dr.TCM.
●    Point Injection Therapy, which, at the time, was found to be practiced by about 10% of all CTCMA registrants
●    Where we can needle (below the mucous membrane, for example)
●    Moving a joint beyond voluntary range with high velocity thrusts,
●    Administering herbal medicine by inhalation or irrigation
●    Examination of ears and noses using instruments or fingers
●    Using ultrasound in treatment
●    Many other items…

The CTCMA’s proposal is available on their website: https://www.ctcma.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/media/1409/2017-05-03-ctcma-regulation-amendment-proposal.pdf

What has the ATCMA been doing in response?

•    Talking with stakeholders – the CTCMA, practitioners, etc.
•    Talking with allies – other associations, especially the physios and occupational therapists who also had their regulation updated.
•    Hired a government relations firm to help us gather information, provide our feedback to the MOH, and plan our course of action.

请您继续向政府写信！ 以便我们在确保我们的声音被听到的同时， 让政府收到清晰一致且持续关于我们想要的内容！兴奋的好消息！ 拟议的变更草案目前被搁置！

#1：中草药必须保持为限制性行为

拟议的草案文件将以下条列从列表中删除：我们希望恢复以下措辞以确保公共安全：
除了一个人之外没有人
…(d) 中医师或草药师可开出中医药管理局章程附表所列的中草药配方……
关键是中草药是限制行为！
将中草药列为限制行为是关键的，让我们的患者和公众知道中草药的使用是安全且在受到适当的监管尤为重中之重。 他们必须要知道中草药为处方药。

#2：CTCMA 2015/2017 年法规修订提案应获得全面通过

近 10 年来，我们一直被承诺要进行执业范围更新/现代化……如果现在不完成，则需要数年时间才能完成。

CTCMA 提出的更新包括：

• 世界各地中医药执业者所使用的重要技术
• 属于核心能力其中的一部分的技术
• 在执业中安全使用的现代工具（电针仪（ESTIM）、超声 (Ultrasound)、PIT(穴位注射疗法)），并且 CTCMA监管

#3：法规必须保留中医术语

带普通话和汉语拼音的中医术语被执业医师和公众广泛接受和了解
将这些术语翻译成英文而不保留中文术语是将术语西方格式化

#4：必须保留执业注册人的头衔和范围定义

ATCMA不反对将传统中医（TCM）作为在我们执业中使用所有的治疗方法的统称。 这也是由 CTCMA 提出的，其目的是确保公众知道每个从事针灸和中草药治疗的人都是其职业的一部分。
然而，为了公共的安全，法规中保留 R.Ac、R.TCM.H 、R.TCM.P 和 Dr.TCM 的执业范围定义至关重要。

请您现在就采取行动！ 请立即写信给卫生部专业监管及其监督部门：PROREGADMIN@gov.bc.ca

1.    您也可以请求与您的 MLA 会面讨论此问题。
2.    或是请您的患者、朋友和家人也写信至 proregadmin@gov.bc.ca
3.    给执业监管部门写信尤为重要! 他们要求提供反馈，并且我们有机会为其提供我们的反馈。 虽然政府通过暂停最初的提案来回应反馈，但我们还是需要他们听到关于我们所想要做出哪些改变的明确且一致信息。
4.    帮助我们也会帮助到您！ 请您加入 ATCMA！ 因为我们的会员越多，政府就越会听取我们的意见。 另外，虽然我们的理事会成员都是志愿者，但我们愿意为且正在为拥护中医所做的一些工作是都有成本的。
信函模表和复制的模板不会起到作用！ 政府不必阅读信函模表。 它们是允许被丢弃且不被认真对待的。我们需要让 卫生部及其执业监管部门做好他们的工作，且阅读发送的每封信的每一个字。如果他们看到模板或套用信函，他们就不会阅读。
请愿是行不通的！ 它们只能由省议员在立法机关提出。 就现在发生这种情况来说已经太晚了，因为立法机关已经决定了

一些背景：

政府已提议对《中医执业者和针灸师法规》(PDF, 147KB)进行修订，以更好地使其与卫生职业法的模式（即共享执业范围和限制行为）保持一致。

他们将其定位为对我们监管的现代化，以与卫生职业法保持一致，因为我们当前的监管在涉及与其他职业共享执业范围以及限制行为的项目上与该法不一致。

这意味着当一项行为可以由多个职业执行时，法规需要阐明该活动的参数。 以我们为例，我们与自然疗法师在草药和针灸方面以及物理治疗师在针刺方面分享一些共同的范围。
基本上的来说，法规是需要修正并为合并及医疗专业和职业法做准备。 他们现在正在做出改变，因为合并将于今年 6 月 28 日“正式”生效。 而这近十年以来， 我们也在一直等候复审好以实现我们的执业范围现代化。

2024 年 1 月 23 日，卫生部健康专业监管和监督部门 (Pro Reg) 发布了 TCMPA 法规的拟议更新。 大多数变化都令人担忧。 有些则需要一些澄清。 还有一些明显的遗漏——2015/2017 年 CTCMA 提案就包括了许多重要更新，以反映现代执业，并帮助保持中医和针灸安全，例如：

●     增加特定限制中药清单的处方权限，例如某些有毒草药应只能通过高级中医师或中医师才能获得。
●    穴位注射疗法，当时大约有 10% 的 CTCMA 注册者采用这种疗法
●    可以进针的地方（例如粘膜下方）
●    正骨手法及方式，
●     通过吸入或冲洗的方式施用草药
●    使用仪器或手指检查耳朵和鼻子
●     使用超声波进行治疗
●    许多其他项目…

CTCMA 的提案可在其网站上获取：https://www.ctcma.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/media/1409/2017-05-03-ctcma-regulation-amendment-proposal.pdf

ATCMA 采取了哪些应对措施？

•    与利益相关者交谈——CTCMA、从业者等。
•    与盟友交谈——其他公会，尤其是物理治疗师和职业治疗师，他们的规定也得到了更新。
•    聘请了一家政府关系公司来帮助我们收集信息、及向卫生部提供反馈且规划我们的行动方案