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Interview with Tian Haihe, President of the American Traditional Chinese Medicine Association (ATCMA), and Wei Hui, CEO
Zhenzhen Zhang
When the spring breeze finally blew through the land of the Eastern United States, one day in mid-April, President Tian and CEO Wei Hui and I met on Zoom to talk about the ATCMA that they founded. My acquaintance with them began by participating in their academic activities. Their academic activities gave me the impression that they were rich in content and highly practical. I heard that they are going to hold their 10th annual meeting, and I hope to take the opportunity to introduce this ten-year-old American Professional Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine to readers of our Journal. For more information about their personal charm and achievements, readers are invited to read the inside cover of this issue. The following is just a conversation between us:
Zhang Zhenzhen: There are 50 states in the United States and Washington, D.C., and almost all of them have their own TCM associations. What gave you the opportunity to found the American TCM Association (ATCMA)?
President Tian: About 10 years ago, thanks to the popularity of WeChat in the Chinese community, Chinese medicine practitioners from Chinese traditional Chinese medicine schools established alumni groups across the United States, bringing together students scattered across the United States. First, we united the alumni associations of each school to establish our organization – the American Traditional Chinese Medicine Alumni Association. We Chinese medicine practitioners share many commonalities, including our education in traditional Chinese medicine, cultural background, and experiences practicing in the United States. Therefore, we have a common language, and our members graduated from different Chinese medical schools, representing various schools of thought in Chinese medicine. This diversity also reflects the different acupuncture laws and practice environments in various states across America. These characteristics fostered resonance among us, leading to the decision to establish a nationwide academic organization—— the American TCM Association (ATCMA).
Our establishment’s initial goal and purpose were to break through regional restrictions, allowing colleagues to learn from each other on a national platform, improve their skills, and further promote and disseminate Chinese medicine. As the association grew, more Chinese medicine practitioners trained in American acupuncture schools joined, especially young physicians who showed strong enthusiasm for learning and knowledge. Subsequently, the American Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine Young Physicians Association was established.
We shoulder the historical mission of cultivating the next generation of young people, so that academic inheritance can be passed on, and there will be successors to traditional Chinese medicine in the United States. At the same time, the society also pays attention to horizontal connections and has actively established close ties with national TCM organizations in the United States to work together to meet challenges, promote comprehensive legislation on acupuncture in the United States, insurance coverage, and further expand the scope of practice of TCM physicians, and determine higher, Broader goals.
Zhang Zhenzhen: The society has gone through ten years, what does it rely on to bring members together?
President Tian: Based on the academic specialties of our association, we have formed different professional committees to conduct in-depth research and exploration in specialized fields. I’ll let CEO Wei Hui elaborate on this.
CEO Wei Hui: Yes, currently our society has established 14 professional committees, namely the Traditional Chinese Medicine Gynecology Professional Committee, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture Professional Committee, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Orthopedics Professional Committee, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Diet Therapy Professional Committee, and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Oncology Professional Committee. Chinese Medicine Qigong and Tai Chi Professional Committee, Chinese Medicine Dermatology Professional Committee, Chinese Medicine Cosmetology Professional Committee, Chinese Medicine Classics Professional Committee, Chinese Medicine Internal Medicine Professional Committee, Chinese Medicine Pediatrics Professional Committee, and Chinese Medicine Prescription Professional Committee, in addition to the Scientific Research and Education Committee. Since 2014, we pioneered WeChat academic lectures and organized many WeChat and Zoom lectures since the epidemic, about 400 of them. Especially during the 2020-2023 epidemic, our online academic exchanges were very active, and lectures were arranged almost every week to improve members’ professional knowledge and clinical skills. Carrying out specialist training is also a major feature of our society. For example, since 2020, our Committee on Traditional Chinese Medicine Cosmetology, in collaboration with Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has organized a series of lectures on Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture Cosmetology Month for three consecutive years, inviting top experts in the field to deliver novel and practical topics, which have been well received by members, enhancing the cohesion of the association.
Zhang Zhenzhen: Yes, I have also participated in some high-level academic activities organized by you, such as the annual conference in Washington DC, and the International Medical Qigong and Tai Chi Forum in Boston. I was very impressed. Not only outstanding Chinese experts but also local American experts, such as Dr. Benson and Dr. Peter Wayne, several famous experts in Tai Chi and Qigong from Harvard Medical School, were also present to share. Can you tell us about your successful experience in organizing these events?
CEO Wei Hui: After the establishment of the association, we have been organizing the annual American Traditional Chinese Medicine Congress, rotating the hosting responsibilities among alumni associations of various schools. For example, the first congress was hosted by the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Alumni Association in Orlando; the second was hosted by the Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Alumni Association in Tucson; the third was hosted by the Anhui University of Chinese Medicine Alumni Association in Washington DC; the fourth was hosted by the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Alumni Association in Seattle; the fifth was hosted by the Hubei University of Chinese Medicine Alumni Association in Los Angeles. Due to the pandemic, the sixth to ninth congresses were held on Zoom, with strong assistance from Chinese medical schools in Shanghai, Nanjing, Shandong, Guangxi, Jiangxi, and New York, among others. Behind the alumni associations is the strong support from various mother schools in China. Our annual meetings often invite representatives from various Chinese medical colleges. Of course, many renowned Chinese medicine masters or academicians are also invited. Their years of invaluable experience, like rain and sunshine, nourish numerous overseas successors of Chinese medicine. Each annual meeting is a grand banquet of knowledge and spiritual cultivation for Chinese medicine colleagues. In recent years, due to the pandemic preventing us from gathering offline, we have shifted to online platforms, and the large-scale online annual meetings have also been hugely successful, with enthusiastic responses.
Zhang Zhenzhen: Great, Could you provide a detailed introduction to this year’s conference in October?
CEO Wei Hui: Since this is the first offline conference after the pandemic and also the 10th-anniversary celebration of the association, members are eagerly looking forward to reuniting after four years. We are actively preparing for it, inspired by everyone’s enthusiasm. According to the survey results and members’ wishes, we will invite renowned experts and scholars in the field of Chinese medicine and acupuncture from China and the United States to present academic reports at the conference, sharing their valuable experiences. This time, our conference will focus more on clinically effective and unique treatment methods or techniques, showcasing their practical operational methods on-site. Our organizing committee has made careful preparations, and we hope everyone will be pleasantly surprised and gain a lot from the conference.
Zhang Zhenzhen: For an association, there are always challenges in the long run. Finally, could you tell our readers about the future plans of the association?
President Tian: Opportunities and challenges often coexist. We face many challenges. For example, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture are still not within the mainstream medical system in the United States; the vast majority of members work in individual clinics; medical insurance payment is limited, and currently, there are only Western medicine acupuncturists receive insurance payment for the elderly in the United States; as an important part of traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine cannot be used as medicine, etc. are all problems we need to solve in the future. Our society has both short-term and long-term goals. At present, we should continue to improve the professional knowledge level and clinical efficacy of our members; expand the publicity and popularization of TCM knowledge to the American people, so that more people can understand TCM and benefit from TCM; support the construction and development of the Young Chinese Physicians Association, train young American Chinese medicine practitioners, and let the flame of Chinese medicine be passed on in the United States; actively organize members to participate in acupuncture legislative activities, national census activities of acupuncture practitioners, etc. The long-term goals are: first, to establish a re-inheritance project for famous teachers, give full play to the special inheritance method of TCM education, cultivate TCM specialists, and not only pass on the treasures of TCM from generation to generation but also carry forward them. The second is to implement specialist training, cultivate TCM acupuncturists with specialties, compile high-level and practical specialist training materials suitable for American TCM practitioners, and organize experts to formulate industry standards and clinical guidelines for disease diagnosis and treatment based on professional committees. The third is to actively organize and participate in clinical research when conditions permit so that traditional Chinese medicine can have a place in evidence-based medicine. The fourth is to continue to run the American edition of “The World Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine” and make it a must-read for American traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. The fifth is to strive to build the ATCMA into an influential model professional society in the United States and even the world.
Zhang Zhenzhen: Thank you two presidents for accepting the interview. I admire you very much for developing from the alumni association of various colleges of traditional Chinese medicine into the National Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine. You are so creative! Thank you even more for your outstanding contributions to developing traditional Chinese medicine in the United States! Finally, I wish the 10th Annual Conference great success!
Author information:
Zhang Zhenzhen is a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has more than 40 years of clinical experience in traditional Chinese medicine. She graduated from the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Hebei Medical College and the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He has practiced medicine and taught in China, Japan, and the United States. Dr. Zhang has taught at the New England Acupuncture College in Massachusetts for over 20 years. At the same time, he has worked part-time at the Women’s Health Center of Salem Hospital in Massachusetts for nearly 20 years.
攜手全美同行，鼎力傳播中醫
訪問全美中醫藥學會(ATCMA)會長田海河和執行長魏輝
章珍珍
春風終於吹透了美東大地之時, 4月中旬的一天我和田會長和魏輝執行長相約在ZOOM房间，聊起了他們創立的全美中醫藥學會(ATCMA)。我與他們相識就是透過參加他們的學會活動開始的，他們的學術活動給我的印像是內容豐富和實用性強。聽說他們要開第十屆年會，我非常希望藉機向我們雜誌的讀者介紹這個有十年歷史的全美中醫藥專業學會。
有關他們的個人魅力和成就，請讀者欣賞本期封二。下面僅是我們之間的對話：
章珍珍：美國有50個州和華盛頓特區，幾乎都有本州自己的中醫學會。那是什麼契機讓您們創建了全美中醫藥學會呢？
田會長：大約10年前，受益於微信在華人圈內流行，來自中國中醫院校的中醫師們，在全美紛紛建立校友群，把分散在美國各州的同學們聚集在一起。首先把各校的校友會聯合起來成立了大家自己的組織——美國中醫校友聯合會。我們這些中醫師都有很多共同之處，所受的中醫教育，文化背景，在美行醫的狀況和經歷都很接近。所以很有共同語言，同時我們的成員畢業於國內不同的中醫院校，根據師承代表了不同的中醫學術流派，同時也體現了美國各州不同的中醫針灸法律和從業環境等，這些特點讓我們這群人碰撞後就產生了共鳴，經過醞釀決定在校友聯合會的基礎上成立全美性質的中醫學術組織——全美中醫藥學會。這樣，學會就應運而生了。
創立當初的目標和宗旨是衝破各州區域限制，透過這個全國性的大平台在更大範圍內使同行們能更好地互相學習、提高技能，進一步弘揚傳播中醫。後來隨著學會的發展和壯大，有了更多美國針灸院校培養的中醫師的加入，特別是青年醫師學習熱情高漲，求知欲很強，隨後又成立了全美中醫藥學會青年中醫師協會。我們擔負起培養年輕下一代的歷史使命，使得學術有傳承，美國的中醫後繼有人。同時，學會也注重橫向聯繫，積極與美國全國性中醫組織機構建立了密切聯繫，一起合作，應對挑戰。推動針灸在美國全面的立法，保險涵蓋和進一步擴大中醫師的執業範圍，確定更高、更廣的目標。
章珍珍：學會走過了十年，靠什麼把會員聚集在一起？
田會長：根據我們學會的學術特色優勢，我們分別組成了不同的專業委員會，在專科領域進行深入地研究探索.我們請魏輝執行長具體介紹一下。
魏輝執行長：是的，目前我們學會成立了14個專業委員會，分別是中醫婦科專業委員會，中醫針灸專業委員會，中醫骨傷專業委員會，中醫藥膳食療專業委員會，中醫腫瘤專業委員會，中醫醫學氣功太極專業委員會，中醫皮膚科專業委員會，中醫美容專業委員會，中醫經典專業委員會，中醫內科專業委員會，中醫兒科專業委員會和中藥方劑專業委員會，此外還有科研和教育委員會。
自2014 年，我們先開創了微信學術講座的先河，舉辦了多場微信和疫情後開始的ZOOM講座，約有400多場。尤其是在2020~2023年疫情期間，我們的線上學術交流很活躍，幾乎每週都安排了講座，為會員提升專業知識和臨床技能。進行專科培訓也是我們學會的一大特色，例如自2020年起連續三年，我們中醫美容專業委員會，與成都中醫藥大學聯合舉辦了中醫針灸美容月的系列講座，聘請到了業界頂尖專家，講題新穎實用，得到了會員的積極參與和好評，也增進了學會的凝聚力。
章珍珍：是的，我也參加過一些您們組織的高水準的學術活動，如在華盛頓DC的年會，在波士頓舉辦的國際醫學氣功太極論壇，印象非常深刻。不僅優秀的華人專家，還有當地的美國專家，如哈佛大學醫學院的幾位研究太極和氣功的著名專家Dr. Benson，和Dr. Peter Wayne也都到場分享。能介紹一下您們舉辦這些活動成功的經驗嗎？
魏輝執行長：學會成立後，我們每年都會舉辦每年一度的大型的學術大會——美國中醫藥大會，輪流請一所或多所校友會承辦，如第一屆是北京中醫藥大學校友會承辦，在奧蘭多舉行；第二屆由山東中醫藥大學校友會承辦，在圖桑舉行；第三屆是安徽中醫藥大學校友會承辦，在華盛頓DC舉行；第四屆是成都中醫藥大學校友會承辦，在西雅圖舉行；第五屆是湖北中醫藥大學校友會承辦，在洛杉磯舉行；由於疫情的原因第六屆到第九屆在ZOOM舉行，得到了上海，南京，山東，廣西，江西和紐約 等中醫院校的大力協助。校友會的背後有國內各母校的大力支持，我們的年會常常會邀請到各中醫學院的代表參加。 當然邀請到不少國醫大師或院士，他們多年積累的寶貴經驗，如同雨露陽光，滋潤了眾多海外的中醫傳人。 每一次年會都是中醫同行們的盛大的知識和靈修宴會。近些年由於疫情,不能線下相聚，我們轉移到了線上，事實證明線上的幾次大型年會也同樣取得了巨大成功，反響熱烈。
章珍珍：太好了，請稍微詳細的介紹一下今年十月份的大會。
魏輝執行長：因為這是疫情後的第一次線下年會，又是學會成立十週年大慶，會員們都翹首期待著四年後的久別重逢。我們受到了大家熱情的感染，正在積極籌備。根據民調大家的需求和願望，我們將邀請中國和美國在中醫和針灸界享有盛名的專家學者在大會上做學術報告，分享其寶貴的經驗，這次我們大會安排更側重於臨床行之有效的、有獨到之處的治療方法或技藝，現場展示他們的實際操作手法，我們組委會已經做了精心準備，希望大家會驚喜連連和收穫滿滿。
章珍珍：對一個學會來說，長期辦下去會有不小的挑戰。最後，請告訴我們的讀者，學會的未來有什麼規劃？
田會長：機遇和挑戰往往是並存的，我們面臨的挑戰很多，例如中醫針灸仍不在美國主流醫學體系之內；絕大多數的會員在個體診所工作；醫療保險支付有限，目前只有西醫針灸師才能獲得美國的老人保險支付。作為中醫重要組成部分的中藥不能當作藥物使用等等都是我們今後要解決的問題。
我們學會既有短期目標也有長/遠期目標，當下應該繼續不斷提高會員的專業知識水平和臨床療效；擴大對美國民眾的宣傳和普及中醫知識，讓更多的民眾了解中醫, 受益於中醫；扶持和支持青年中醫師學會的建設和發展，培養年輕的美國中醫師，讓中醫的薪火在美國傳遞下去； 積極組織會員參加針灸立法活動，針灸師執業的全國普查活動等。
我们的長遠目標：一是建立名師再傳承項目，發揮中醫教育的特殊傳承方式，培養中醫專科人才，把中醫的寶藏不僅代代相傳，而且要發揚光大。 二是實施專科培訓，培養具有特長的中醫針灸師，編纂適用於美國中醫師特色高水平而且實用的專科培訓教材，基於專業委員會，組織專家製定行業標準和病症診治臨床指南。三是在有條件的情況下，積極組織和參與臨床研究，讓中醫在實證醫學中佔有一席之地。四是繼續辦好《世界中醫藥雜誌》的美國版，使之成為美國中醫師的必讀之作。五是努力把全美中醫藥學會(ATCMA)打造成為在美國乃至世界上頗具影響力的標竿榜樣專業學會。
章珍珍：謝謝二位會長接受採訪，非常佩服您們從各個中醫學院的校友會發展成全美中醫藥學會，真的很有創意！更感謝您們為中醫在美國的發展所做的卓越貢獻！最後預祝第十屆年會圓滿成功！
作者簡介:
章珍珍，中醫師，擁有40多年中醫臨床經驗，畢業於河北醫學院中醫系和中國中醫研究院。 曾在中國、日本和美國行醫和教學。 曾在美國麻州的新英格蘭針灸學院任教 20多年，同時，在麻州Salem醫院的婦女健康中心兼職工作近20年。
