Chinese medicine is hottest
Chengchi University professor Chou Chu-ying says that from 1987 to 2001 there were over 3000 students from Taiwan who entered mainland universities through the examinations for residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, or who were formally certified as Taiwanese students by the PRC Ministry of Education. Taiwanese students tended to congregate near China's coastal regions, around Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Fujian, and Guangdong. The most popular area of study was traditional Chinese medicine, followed by law and politics, trade, and management. Fields like humanities, religion, and traditional arts were at the bottom of the list. The school that attracted the most Taiwanese to sign up for the exam was Beida, but the school with the largest number of Taiwanese students was China Zhengzhi (Political) University. There were also many Taiwanese students at institutes of traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
"Of the more than 1000 mainland institutes of higher learning, 70% are for science and engineering, because the mainland has always given preference to these fields and shortchanged the humanities. The PRC is also strong in military science and aerospace technology," says Yang Ching-yao. But as far as he knows, few students from Taiwan go to the PRC to study science or engineering. Departments of archeology and anthropology are also as yet undiscovered treasures. "Virtually anywhere in mainland China, all you have to do is dig and you get yourself the equivalent holdings to Taiwan's whole Museum of Prehistory; there's an inexhaustible scholarly treasure house there."
Chen Cheng-sheng, who went to Beida in 1999, studies political science, which promises the lowest economic returns. Chen, who decided to continue on for his PhD this year, does not exclude the possibility of teaching in the PRC in the future, but says that right now salaries there are too low, so the prospects are not very attractive. For him, the important thing about getting his degree in the PRC is that "I can have the experience of learning side by side with the cutting edge elite in mainland China, which is rare and precious. But having a mainland degree won't necessarily be any help in finding a job."
Know thyself
Wu Hsiao-ming, a doctoral candidate in international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, assumed when he entered in 1997 that it wouldn't be long before direct travel would be possible between the two sides. Five years have passed and the prospect of direct travel is still remote. Many students likewise thought that the government would recognize mainland degrees by the time they finished their programs, and that everything would be smooth sailing thereafter, but this idea has proved far removed from reality.
In addition, notes Wu, when Taiwan and mainland students interact, it is necessary to keep a firm and confident attitude about Taiwan's future, or they will think that peaceful reunification is even more reasonable. "Maybe you don't agree with the 'one country on each side' formula, but you have to let them understand the background to this kind of idea, and don't forget where you come from."
In an era when the future of cross-strait relations remains clouded, only you can decide whether studying in mainland China is right for you. But no matter what, the return on this kind of educational investment may have to wait for the future.
Lin Hung-yang
(interview by Teng Sue-feng/ tr. by Robert Taylor)
Lin Hung-yang went from faraway Argen-tina to study in mainland China ten years ago, and this year gained his doctorate in clinical medicine at Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NJUTCM). Now aged 33, he talks about his motives for studying TCM in mainland China, what it is like to study there, and the opportunities that the TCM market offers.
When I was in my second year of junior high, our whole family emigrated to Argentina. Over there traditional Chinese medicine is well established, but most of the patients are of Chinese descent. At university in Argentina I read business administration, but in my first year there, the local TCM practitioners' association invited a teacher from NJUTCM to teach a short course of lectures, and this kindled my interest in TCM.
In 1991 I joined the undergraduate program at NJUTCM, and five years later I started on a master's course. Back then, in 1996, I was NJUTCM's first master's candidate from abroad, and they had to hold a special meeting just to figure out how much tuition they should charge. Three years later I started on the doctoral program, and I just got my PhD this year.
The strongest fields at NJUTCM are acupuncture and moxibustion, and pediatrics. The teachers are highly experienced in clinical practice, and because mainland China has suffered many natural disasters and periods of unrest, doctors of whatever specialism have to treat pretty much all kinds of diseases. Our school has many famous doctors. One example is Qiu Maoliang, aged 90, who was China's greatest living acupuncturist, but sadly he passed away just recently. Others include ENT specialist Gan Zuwang, as well as Shen Jize, who teaches a course on the third-century medical textbook Synopsys of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber. His approach of combining ancient TCM texts with practical clinical examples makes the ancient books interesting and accessible.
At present there are about 80 students from Taiwan at NJUTCM. As far as career opportunities for Taiwanese TCM students go, there are probably three main paths open to them. The first is to return to Taiwan and take the TCM certification exam, but the current exam will soon be scrapped, because policymakers want TCM practitioners to be trained in formal educational institutions from now on. The second is to enroll in a postgraduate program in a TCM department after getting your bachelor's degree; and the third is to emigrate overseas and gain residency in another country. Comparing the TCM systems in various foreign countries, Canada's is one of the best, and British Columbia even has a bureau of traditional Chinese medicine. But apart from having to pass the TCM certification exam, you also have to get a license to practice. It's the same in the US, and in California alone there are 6000 licensed acupuncturists, so competition is very intense. On the other hand, Singapore recognizes qualifications from five long-established mainland Chinese TCM universities, including Beijing and NJUTCM, so you can directly go into practice.
It looks like a promising career, but in fact there are many obstacles. I hear that in Taiwan the TCM practitioners' association hopes that the Ministry of Education will require people who study TCM on the mainland to take the mainland's certification exam, then go back to Taiwan and take the mainland qualification accreditation exam, before finally taking the government professional exam for TCM practitioners. That's why many people take things one step at a time. Some open up a herbal medicine dispensary at home, so that they will have something to fall back on if they don't pass all the exams. If they don't think it is below them, in Taiwan they may be able to earn more from practicing traditional folk remedies such as massage and cupping than from TCM. Some people go into other lines of work, but once you leave this field you are unlikely to be able to get back into it again.
Originally I planned on going back to Argentina after graduating, but six months ago the economy there collapsed, so now I may look for work in mainland China. It's only this year that the mainland opened its medical certification examinations to foreign nationals and to students from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. Perhaps I will club together with three or four friends to put up US$100,000 and open a small clinic in a big city. I'm in at the front so I have time to grab a good patch, but in the future things may get more crowded.