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Report from the Front: First Year in the Doctoral Program
By Dr. Greg Sperber
As this is being written, the first year of Pacific College 's first doctoral program is wrapping up, and we intrepid explorers of the dark territories in new vistas of Chinese medical education have survived to tell the tale. This is our story.
It began in January of 2004 with women's health and pediatrics. Yuan Wang was our instructor in women's health and her years of working in a Chinese hospital informed her insights on the topics. Alex Tiberi, an internationally recognized expert in the subject, taught pediatrics. We learned a lot from each and applied it during the clinical sessions, which were always an exercise in pediatrics with kids always underfoot.
While the knowledge imparted by the teachers was fantastic, it was the interaction with our fellow students that really made each class special. We all had radically different backgrounds from new graduates to students that have been practicing for decades. Many use varied traditions including Master Tong's, Japanese, and Korean. It was the discussion amongst us that really made each class memorable.
We have delved into hallowed tomes, including the Huang Di Nei Jing , the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic , and the Nan Jing , the Difficult Classic . By exploring these historical and still relevant books, our practice and depth of knowledge have increased dramatically.
Each semester we have a case mentorship class where the main focus is to develop appropriate case reports that can fly in biomedical and research circles as well as within the Oriental medical community. Coupled with our grand rounds, where we discuss in depth the cases seen in the clinic, we are going deeper into each case and asking questions and learning answers on a level none of us have experienced before.
We have had two semesters of clinics; the first focusing on women's health and pediatrics, and the second on mental health and orthopedics. These clinics have subject experts in each of the areas covered as well as a wonderful and extremely knowledgeable medical doctor. It is this team approach, both from the doctoral students and the supervisors that allows us to go more in depth and learn so much from each case.
In our medical Chinese class, we are learning all about basic Chinese that is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Our first semester covered over 100 basic ideograms, while we concentrated on point names in our second semester. Throughout, we are learning basic Chinese phrases and pronunciation, but the emphasis is very much on the ability to translate written medical texts into English.
One of our toughest classes has been research methods. It is difficult because most of us haven't had a research class let alone one that goes into so much depth. It is all geared towards a capstone project, of which the students have devised many and varied forms including clinical trials of various protocols, literature reviews, translations, and the use of electronic medical records software in the Oriental medical clinic. The professor teaching this class has worked on dozens of theses and is providing lots of guidance and whip cracking.
While we have learned a lot over the last year, that isn't to say that all is perfect. As in any new project, there have been many ups and downs this year and lots of things that sounded good on paper, but didn't work in actuality. As the first class to go through this program, we are all committed to giving feedback and trying to improve the program for those that follow us. And we can say the faculty and staff has been very good at listening to us and attempting to correct and change the program for the better.
We also feel it is our job to create some traditions for future classes, including an end of semester Dim Sum brunch that is being planned as this is written. Who knows, maybe our next contribution to PCOM's culture will be to host a formal Doctor's Ball. Okay, the response to that idea was luke warm, but maybe.
So that was our first year at the front. There have been ups and downs, but overall it has been a wonderful and very educational experience. We have all grown since starting it and look forward to delving into our specialties.
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