Communication: Wuwen West East African Medical Students Utilizing Chinese Wisdom to Benefit Homeland Rwanda | Traditional Chinese Medicine | Wisdom

Xinhua News Agency, Changsha, July 2nd. Newsletter: No question. West and East African medical students use Chinese wisdom to benefit their homeland

Xinhua News Agency reporter

During the days waiting for the admission of master's students, Rwandan students Lin Qian and Gao Ruisi did not relax. They made a study plan and planned to strengthen their medical Chinese practice to prepare for the new semester.

These good friends from Rwanda are both undergraduate graduates majoring in clinical medicine from the International Education College of Changsha Medical University. This autumn, they will both enter Central South University to pursue graduate studies.

At the undergraduate stage, the college has set up courses of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, massage and other traditional Chinese medicine for international students. During their graduation internship, Lin Qian and Gao Ruisi interned at the Fourth Hospital of Changsha for one year, rotating across 13 departments.

The study and internship of traditional Chinese medicine courses have exposed them to new medical fields. Lin Qian remembered that a 45 year old male patient with kidney stones, who did not want to be operated on, took Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion treatment in the hospital. After three times of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, his pain was alleviated. In addition, the stones were relatively small. The hospital told him to drink more water and exercise more, so he went home.

"I have witnessed that many patients have effectively alleviated their symptoms through the treatment of traditional Chinese medicine or combination of traditional Chinese and western medicine. This has made me very interested in traditional Chinese medicine." Lin Qian said that after graduating from graduate school, he plans to return to China to open a Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion clinic to help the people of Rwanda relieve their pain with Chinese therapy.

Lin Qian said that due to the long summer sunshine in Rwanda, local people have more headaches. "Tuina on the temples and Baihui acupoints is a very effective treatment method."

Gao Ruisi, who has aspired to become a surgeon since childhood, has witnessed and understood the path of balance and complementarity in China, through joint consultations of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, as well as the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine for diagnosis and treatment.

During the internship, a patient with diabetes was in a serious condition. When he saw Chinese medicine, he invited experts from the endocrine department for joint consultation. After discussion, the doctor proposed a consultation opinion on the use of western medicine in combination with traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations. After careful observation, after several courses of treatment, the patient's blood sugar control effect was good, greatly reducing discomfort.

"Chinese and Western medicine are not opposed, they are complementary. To become a good doctor, one should simultaneously master the knowledge of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine, learn to combine Chinese and Western medicine, and better serve patients," said Gao Ruisi.

In recent years, under the guidance of the Healthy China Action, Chinese medicine has provided more "China programs" and made greater "China contributions" to the world's medical cause. In 2020, Hunan Province established the largest Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion center in southern Africa in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, which was certified as the first Chinese medicine clinic in Zimbabwe; In 2022, the first training courses for Zimbabwean traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion talents were held, which trained the first group of indigenous Chinese medicine acupuncture and moxibustion talents in Zimbabwe; Huxiang traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations entered the African market, and traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations such as Yinhuang Qingfei Capsule, Fenghan Ganmao Granules and Gynecological Qianjin Tablets were successfully listed in Zimbabwe, helping to internationalize the Chinese medicine industry

While traditional Chinese medicine, medicine, and culture are "going abroad" in Africa, many African international students go to China to study medicine. After completing their studies, they also choose to return to China to work in the medical industry and use "Chinese wisdom" to benefit their homeland.

Mauritian Lu Xing is currently a neurosurgeon at Victoria Hospital in Mauritius. In 2018, he and his friends established the "Yukang Tang Health Center" in the central city of Ebenei, Mauritius, providing traditional Chinese medicine treatment services to patients and also shouldering the responsibility of spreading and promoting the concept of traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

Based on 9 years of medical practice at Guangxi Medical University, Lu Xing believes that the combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine can achieve better therapeutic effects. "Western medicine treats symptoms, while traditional Chinese medicine treats the root cause. Western medicine can quickly eliminate symptoms, but after eliminating obvious symptoms, traditional Chinese medicine plays a significant role in helping patients quickly return to normal life and improve their quality of life."

Some cerebral hemorrhage patients treated by Lu Xing often experience spasmodic hemiplegia symptoms after surgery, and normal walking becomes a problem. Through acupuncture and moxibustion, massage and other traditional Chinese medicine treatments, the spastic nerves and muscles can be dredged, which can play an auxiliary role in treatment. The speed of patients' recovery and the possibility of resuming normal life can be improved.

Before the establishment of Yukang Hall, the Ebenei people had very limited understanding of traditional Chinese medicine. In order to help local people understand traditional Chinese medicine, Lu Xing and his team have put a lot of effort into giving lectures at various institutions and enterprises, promoting science on social media, and writing a booklet in English called "Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine" to distribute to those who come for consultation and consultation. At the same time, Yukang Tang also pays attention to tracking the effectiveness of treatment, creating diagnosis and treatment records for patients, and conducting regular follow-up visits.

In recent years, with the growing recognition of traditional Chinese medicine therapy by African people, cupping, massage, acupuncture and moxibustion, etc. are loved by African people. After 5 years of establishment, Yukang Tang has now become a well-known traditional Chinese medicine brand in the local area.

"This is our platform for promoting traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese culture, and it is also a responsibility that I need to fulfill after going out to study," said Lu Xing.