For 5,000 years, since the days of Shen Nung, who discovered the medicinal uses of herbs and roots and founded Chinese medicine, Chinese traditional medicine has continually helped and protected the Chinese people.

Its survival to today has not been without difficulty. Westernization was in vogue during the early years of the Republic and in 1929 the Minister of Health ordered the abandonment of Chinese medicine, only to be dissuaded by provincial appeals. In Taiwan, the Japanese allowed only the study of Western medicine during the 50-year period of occupation.

Ironically, while Chinese doctors today debate the value of Chinese medicine, interest in it has spread elsewhere. In Korea, six separate universities have produced over 100 Ph.D.'s in Chinese medicine, and there is widespread research on the subject in Japan. Today in Taiwan, Chinese medicine flourishes, with over 7,000 traditional Chinese pharmacies, and clinics daily packed with patients.

Since its establishment in 1958, the China Medical College has been devoted to promoting Chinese medicine, to "unifying" Chinese and Western medicine, to modernizing Chinese medicine, and to putting Chinese medicine on a scientific basis.

The school itself is small, and with 4,000 students and over 300 faculty can seem a bit crowded. Because the students must study both Western and Chinese medicine, course loads are heavy. For example, those studying in the relatively "relaxed" Department of Western Medicine must still take 23 credits of Chinese medicine. Though the student may never practice Chinese medicine, one can still learn how the Chinese viewpoint of focusing on the "person" can complement the Western focus on the "illness."

The task of modernizing Chinese medicine may be the school's most difficult. The approach is to use "experimental" Western techniques to study the heretofore "experiential" Chinese techniques (i.e., learn-by-doing), and weed out those traditional methods which seem useless while further researching those which appear beneficial.

As a result of this attitude, students in the Department of Chinese Medicine must take a seven year course which makes them professionally competent in both. Unfortunately, the task of unifying Western and Chinese medicine is complicated by the greater post-graduation salaries and opportunities for research in the former. Of the 800 students who have graduated from the Department of Chinese Medicine, only just over 100 are still practicing.

In order to keep more talent in the area of Chinese Medicine, CMC has set up a special post-B.A. training program focusing purely on Chinese medicine. It lasts four years plus one year of clinical work.

One of CMC's special features is its Department of Pharmacology. In addition to studying Western Pharmacology, this five-year program requires 40 credits in the study of Chinese medicines and their history. It also includes "hands-on" experience in cultivating and making Chinese medicines.

More intensive work is available through CMC's four Master's level graduate departments, including Chinese Medicine, Chinese Pharmacology, Pharmacological Chemistry, and Medical Management. Each department is unique in the country.

The former two departments are quite small, admitting only ten or so highly dedicated students annually. The faculty is very strong, and includes some of the world's leading experts in their fields, such as Ha Hung-chien (Nerve Anatomy, Acupuncture), Ma Kwang-ya (Chinese Medicine), Lin Ching-ting, and others.

The Graduate Department of Chinese Medicine is further subdivided into various specialties like Acupuncture, Medical History, Diagnostics, and others.

Those at CMC hope to be able to employ the strong points of Western Medicine to compensate for weak points in Chinese medicine. Thus, for example, though Chinese medicine has behind it a long period of practical, clinical evidence that it works, Western techniques of histology and chemical analysis are employed to understand why, and to lay the foundation for further research.

At the Department of Chinese Pharmacology, other work is going on. For example, as Hsieh Ming-tsun, current Chairman of the Graduate Department of Chinese Pharmacology, notes, one of the unique characteristics of Chinese medicine is that a prescription includes not a single medicine but a combination of many ingredients. Looking at the various ingredients and their effects is a central concern of current research.

Another project is standardization. Chinese medicine has many methods of delivery, the most common being in a liquid soup form. The Department of Pharmacology is working on standardizing these methods and simplifying them.

The Graduate Department of Medical Management has drawn a lot of attention since its establishment in 1984. Its goal is to develop leaders in the field of health care, and the curriculum includes courses on medicine, law, business, and more.

CMC also has various research committees working on problems farmed out to the school or working up articles for publication about the latest advances in Chinese medicine. One particularly interesting project has been to study the effectiveness of Chinese medicines or acupuncture in treating Hepatitis B, being conducted under a grant from Department of Health.

Medicine is constantly in flux, and yesterday's truth rapidly becomes today's superstition, and vice versa. For the students of China Medical College, their study of both Chinese and Western medicine gives them a deeper understanding of both.

[Picture Caption]

The college's emblem is based on a Greek myth.

CMC includes a spirit of caring and patience among its lessons.

Although the campus is small, student activities are diverse. This picture is of students from the Chinese Martial Arts Club.

(Above) The marble pathway and the herbal medicine garden make up the school's most interesting location.

(Below) This newly designed "pulse taking machine" allows still more accurate pulse recording.

(Above) The library has the country's finest collection of books on Chinese Medicine.

(Below) CMC's "minority people"--its female students.

CMC includes a spirit of caring and patience among its lessons.

Although the campus is small, student activities are diverse. This picture is of students from the Chinese Martial Arts Club.

（Above） The marble pathway and the herbal medicine garden make up the school's most interesting location.

（Below） This newly designed "pulse taking machine" allows still more accurate pulse recording.

（Above） The library has the country's finest collection of books on Chinese Medicine.

（Below） CMC's "minority people"--its female students.