Navigating through the sea of medicine

Important Note, July 21, 2022: This essay was originally written in February 2020, when the Covid-19 epidemic was still in its early stages. Therefore, some of the information may be outdated and/or erroneous. I choose to keep it in its original form, as a personal historical record. This essay originally  appeared in the Singing Dragon Blog, here: https://blog.singingdragon.com/2020/03/tongue-diagnosis-during-the-sars-and-the-covid-19-outbreaks/   --- Please note:  This blog entry presents some very gruesome tongue pictures related to the corona virus. Although in China it is now legal for traditional doctors to assist in the management of epidemics in well-regulated hospital setting and fever clinics, in other countries most traditional clinics are not equipped to deal with such events. Please refrain from trying to provide treatment unless your clinic is fully equipped to do so, and also always act in accordance to the laws of the country you’re licensed to provide healthcare. In 80

This is more of a personal entry. It is not a secret that I will be leaving China in a couple of days, after having spent 17 years in Beijing and Guangzhou. I leave my job at the Sports Trauma Hospital with feelings of great accomplishment and satisfaction after putting together a fully functional spinal deformities correction department.  However, since February there has been a hostile overtake of the hospital administration, and a split between the Niu Family. As a result, I decided not to follow either of the brothers, and opted to pursue an academic and clinical position in Phoenix, AZ.    Before leaving though, I had the chance to meet with my PhD supervisor, Prof. Chen Li-guo who’s retiring soon. Prof. Chen was the person who single handedly took the TCM Department at the Jinan University in 2000, kickstarted its Medical Degree, then a few years later established its Medical Master’s and more recently the PhD program.  Chen had an amazing journey in medicine, starting out as a 

Today I was at  the Guangzhou TCM University, to participate in the compilation of the extension of the "RIGHT statements for clinical practice guidelines" , specific to acupuncture. With Prof. Gordon Guyatt, the father of Evidence Based Medicine, and many important scholars from all over the world.   I was originally invited to join this team by Prof. Tang Chun-zhi, the Dean of the Acupuncture Department at the Guangzhou TCM University.  It is also a time to say goodbye to many of my good colleagues and friends, as this will be one of the last official tasks I undertake in my capacity as Doctor and Researcher at the Zhongxing Hospital, before moving to the United States later in the summer.  See you all on the other side.

All of you who have been following my career,  probably already know that in recent years I have been working at the  Zhongxing Sports Trauma Hospital  in Guangzhou. It is run by the Niu Family from Hebei, which has a very long and rich tradition in Chinese orthopedics and ancient bone setting.    Although my title within the hospital is "Research Fellow" , I was originally employed as a doctor, and I am now moved into developing their department for  Spinal Deformities Corrections and Research . This task brings together several of my skills in  Tendon and Fascia Reconditioning Manipulations  (which I personally developed over a decade ago), my martial training and traditional herbal traumatology.    Seeing how well kids respond to a combination of Qi Gong exercises,  Schroth  training and breathing, alongside orthopedic acupuncture and related modalities has been one of the most fulfilling times in my life.    At the same time, I am also working closely with the Niu Family

This year I was invited to speak at the  World TCM Wellness and Health Preservation Shennongjia Forum  held in Shennongjia, from October 12-15. Shennongjia in Hubei province, is the home of Shennong (The Divine Farmer), one of the legendary three mythological rulers of China, the other two being Fu Xi and Huang Di (Yellow Emperor).    The topic of my speech was:  “Maintaining Environmental Awareness when Harvesting Wild Herbs: Key concepts for the development of the herbal trade, while preserving the wild flora and fauna”   We took a few photos with my friends and colleagues. 

I haven't published a blog entry in a while, but this weekend I was invited to the Eighth Conference of WFCMS Translation Specialty Committee. This meeting is the first one I attend after completing my PhD. The President of the Guangzhou Medical University, Prof. Wang Xinhua, and the President of the WFCMS Translation Committee Prof. Li Zhao-guo, both invited me to deliver the key note speech . Later that evening, President Wang Xinhua also invited me to dinner with the University leadership and other University Deans and Presidents.  (Photo of us shaking hands below) And, finally after many months, I find the chance to leave the clinic and hang out with my friends for a couple of days. Many of them were really excited to see me, especially since working full time in the hospital takes up all of my time now. Here's a few photos.

After a long three years of research and traveling around the country to meet key experts. And after many  hours of handling rare documents and forgotten manuscripts. And after many sleepless nights trying to make sense about how disease traveled during the three major pandemics of the ancient times. And after countless seminars and communications with specialists on ancient epidemiology, and Silk Road / Belt and Road Studies. And while simultaneously working on at least 3 official textbooks and several research committees, I finally completed my PhD in Medicine.   I wrote my research diatribe at the Medical School of the Jinan University in Guangzhou. My thesis supervisor was Prof. Chen Li-guo, a famous exponent of Chinese Integrative Medicine (alongside the now retired Chen Keji). Prof. Chen Li-guo is also an important figure in the TCM world, being one of the top specialists in  Huang Di Nei Jing  and  Jing Fang  studies.   My research thesis picks up from my previous work on tongue

Back in 2012, Prof. Zhu Jian-ping first involved me in his research on TCM Terminology Standardization. His multi-million-yuan research project endeavors to standardize medical terms for legal and official purposes.    My involvement over the last four years, yielded one SCI article, several conference papers and participation in many committee meetings.   Although I am not a translator by any definition, I do however enjoy terminology research, and exploring the meaning of different medical characters throughout history and across schools of thought.    I am currently in Beijing for several projects, including  this meeting, who took place between April 24-26. I took a few photos for my archive. 

All of you who have been following my career over the last few years, probably already have a copy of my   “Gold Mirrors and Tongue Reflections”   in your collection. My original research started in 2004, as a direct response to the SARS epidemic of 2002-2003. The main idea was to look back through the history of Chinese medicine, and seek realistic solutions for a hypothetical post-antibiotic era, and learn from everything that has worked in historical attacks of pestilence. Of course, it is understood that in today’s world, the advancements in medicine mean that there are many solutions for dealing with epidemics, through the development of antibiotics, antivirals and vaccines.    But if what we have learned from SARS is an indicator, every now and then there will be a new virus that will be just a little too strong, and will spread just a little too fast, and get out of control just a little before the WHO and the goverments can respond.  Just imagine a world where a virus needs to