scholarly journals The Victorian experience of transitional registration for Chinese Medicine practitioners and its implications for national registration

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyu Zhou ◽  
Anthony Lin Zhang ◽  
Brian H. May ◽  
Vivian K. Lin ◽  
Anne-Louise Carlton ◽  
...  

Background. Statutory registration of Chinese Medicine (CM) practitioners was introduced in Victoria in 2000. The application assessment process for those who were granted registration during the transitional period (2002–04) was resource intensive, as little was known about their age, education, practice and language proficiency. This study offers insights that may be useful for the planning of national registration to commence in 2012. Methods. Data were extracted from registration application forms submitted to the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (CMRB) between 2002 and 2004, using pre-defined data collection forms. Results. In 2006, 639 ‘grandparented’ Victorian CM practitioners had been registered, with a median age of 44 years old (range 23–86). There was a higher proportion of younger female, English-speaking, acupuncturists v. a higher proportion of older male, non-English-speaking, Chinese herbalists. There were few CM practitioners in rural areas, particularly herbalists. More than one-third of practitioners had obtained qualifications overseas and almost half of these practitioners provided no evidence of past study in professional issues and medical ethics. Conclusions. Ageing, diversity in qualifications and training, English proficiency, and level of study in professional issues and medical ethics represent major challenges for the implementation of CM national registration in 2012. What is known about the topic? Statutory registration of Chinese Medicine (CM) practitioners was introduced in the state of Victoria in 2000. The process of registering practitioners during the transitional period was resource intensive, because of the diverse background of the workforce. In May 2009, Health Ministers of all States and Territories and the Commonwealth agreed to include the CM profession, from 1 July 2012, in the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the health professions. What does this paper add? This paper, based on data from the registration application forms submitted to the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (CMRB) between 2002 and 2004, provides a demographic and geographic profile of the 639 Victorian CM practitioners grandparented under the transitional arrangements of the Chinese Medicine Registration Act 2000. This study offers insights that may be useful for the planning of national registration for the Chinese Medicine profession. What are the implications for practitioners? With the introduction of national registration for the CM profession, this study provides critical data for developing effective strategies to implement the grandparenting process in all states and territories in Australia. Particularly, data collected in this study will help to deal with assessing knowledge in ethics and the healthcare system, biomedical sciences and language proficiency as part of the assessment process for a substantial number of applicants during the national registration of CM practitioners.

Author(s):  
Yuping Wang

The study and teaching of American literature and American realism in China mirrored the social development and cultural transformation in China and was often fueled by political incentives. This chapter examines the cultural and political forces affecting the reception of American literature in different stages of Chinese history and investigates the teaching of American literature and of American realism in Chinese university classrooms. Different from the teaching of American literature in English-speaking countries, the American literature course in China serves a twofold purpose: to provide cultural nutrient for the cultivation of a broader mind by highlighting the cultural norms and rubrics in literature and to promote students’ language proficiency by a careful study of the text and formal elements of literary works. The history of the Chinese reception of American literature thus reflects the resilience and openness of Chinese culture in its negotiation with foreign cultures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun-Ku Lin ◽  
Chien-Tung Wu ◽  
Chia-Jen Liu ◽  
Hui-Jer Chou ◽  
Fu-Yang Ko ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Large-scale epidemics have changed people’s medical behavior, and patients tend to delay non-urgent medical needs. However, the impact of the pandemic on the use of complementary and alternative medicine remains unknown. Methods: This retrospective study aimed to analyze the changes in the number of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) patients and examine the epidemic prevention policy during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We analyzed the number of TCM patients in Taipei City Hospital from January 2017 to May 2020. We tallied the numbers of patients in each month and compared them with those in the same months last year. We calculated the percentage difference in the number of patients to reveal the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TCM utilization. We used the Mann­–Whitney U test to examine whether there was a significant difference in the number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: We included a total of 41 months and 1,935,827 patients in this study. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of patients decreased significantly, except in February 2020. The numbers of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic had fallen by more than 15% compared with those in the same months last year. March and April had the greatest number of patient losses, with falls of 32.8% and 40%, respectively. TCM patients declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and mobile medicine provided to rural areas fell considerably. Among all the TCM specialties, pediatrics and traumatology, as well as infertility treatment, witnessed the most significant decline in the number of patients. However, the number of cancer patients has reportedly increased. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic decreased the utilization rate of TCM, especially for mobile healthcare in rural areas. We suggest that the government pay attention to the medical disparity between urban and rural areas, which are affected by the pandemic, as well as allocate adequate resources in areas deprived of medical care.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Isabel Muñoz Alcón ◽  
Francisco Trullén Galve

Learning a foreign language involves the practice and development of linguistic competencies through a series of communicative activities. Assessing each of these competencies face to face can provide an accurate profile of the student’s level of language proficiency. But assessing them online, particularly oral skill, poses a challenge for both students and professors. The change of scenario and use of digital tools may intimidate students and deprive the interview from naturality and warmth. In this paper, the suitability of Blackboard Collaborate as Learning Management System to assess English speaking skill is studied together with other factors influencing students’ online performance. 81 students from 5 different undergraduate programs in Engineering and Applied Sciences were assessed, following the threefold pattern of IELTS speaking test questions. Their results and responses to a final survey are contrasted so as to check the positive of negative effect of online testing on the students’ state of mind and eventual achievement. Blackboard platform proves to be as a suitable online framework for optimal performance, and the examiner’s attitude is equally a conditioning factor in students’success.


Author(s):  
Maja Stojanovic ◽  
Petra A. Robinson

The chapter examines how non-native English-speaking graduate students perceive academic success and possible linguistic and cultural challenges in graduate schools in the United States. Data were collected from six in-depth individual face-to-face interviews specifically to understand the complexities and nuances in the perceptions of non-native English-speaking graduate students related to their academic success and possible challenges they face that may be caused by the lack of native-like language proficiency. Students' perceptions revealed the importance of cultural and language training for key stakeholders. Graduate schools as well as those teaching multicultural classes, among other stakeholders, should utilize this information to help modify English language programs and curricula for current and new students.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashimesh Roychowdhury ◽  
Gwen Adshead

SummaryRisk assessment differs from other medical interventions in that the welfare of the patient is not the immediate object of the intervention. However, improving the risk assessment process may reduce the chance of risk assessment itself being unjust. We explore the ethical arguments in relation to risk assessment as a medical intervention, drawing analogies, where applicable, with ethical arguments raised by general medical investigations. The article concludes by supporting the structured professional judgement approach as a method of risk assessment that is most consistent with the respect for principles of medical ethics. Recommendations are made for the future direction of risk assessment indicated by ethical theory.


1993 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ren-Zong Qiu

Chinese medicine has a history of at least 2,000 years. The first explicit literature on medical ethics did not appear until the seventh century when a physician named Sun Simiao wrote a famous treatise titled “On the Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians” in his work The Important Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold. In this treatise, later called The Chinese Hippocratic Oath, Sun Simiao required the physician to develop first a sense of compassion and piety, and then to make a commitment to try to save every living creature, to treat every patient on equal grounds, and to avoid seeking wealth because of his expertise.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 107-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIMPHO LETSELA ◽  
ANDRE PELSER ◽  
MAITLAND SEAMAN

Sustainability assessment processes are increasingly being applied towards integration of the sustainability agenda within diverse decision-making jurisdictions. This paper seeks to contribute insights from a process undertaken within rural areas in Lesotho. A learning-by-doing and people-centred approach was explored within a qualitative multiple case study to integrate biodiversity considerations within the broader livelihoods sustainability context. Stakeholders collectively determined interpretations, aspirations and priorities for action planning and pathways that sustain biodiversity. This process yielded a functional context-specific sustainability assessment framework to guide stakeholders when embarking on biodiversity interventions that enhance supply of ecosystem services in and outside protected areas. However, the effectiveness of the process requires that it should be nested within an enabling environment characterised by relevant international and national biodiversity policy and strategic frameworks, decision- making structures, funding, tools and expertise, sensitisation and capacity-building.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 498-515
Author(s):  
Liudmyla Herasymenko ◽  
Svitlana Muravska ◽  
Maryna Lomakina ◽  
Nadiia Martynenko ◽  
Iuliia Mazurenko

English language proficiency is a vital requirement for air-to-ground communication for aviation specialists. A special attention should be paid to developing speaking skills of future pilots, air traffic controllers and engineers. Our research has shown that future aviation specialists come across certain challenges in the process of communication in English: insufficient aviation knowledge to give an opinion, low motivation to speak, poor grammatical skills and insufficient knowledge of vocabulary items, uneven participation in discussions, and fear of making mistakes. To overcome these challenges some recommendations were formulated for teachers to follow. The problem-solving activities were chosen and designed to enhance students’ speaking skills. They include value-clarification tasks, discussions, role-plays, information-gap activities, describing pictures, and discussing videos. This research aims to define the impact of applying these problem-solving activities on developing students’ speaking skills. 120 second year students in aviation specialties took part in this experiment. They were divided into a control and an experimental group of equal numbers. In both groups, the teachers taught the same Aviation English content which corresponded to the syllabus. In addition, in the experimental group the teacher implemented the problem-solving activities, which contributed significantly to the development of future aviation specialists’ speaking skills.


Author(s):  
George J. Borjas ◽  
Barry R. Chiswick ◽  
George J. Borjas ◽  
Barry R. Chiswick ◽  
George J. Borjas ◽  
...  

This chapter is concerned with the determinants and consequences of immigrant/linguistic concentrations (enclaves). The reasons for the formation of these concentrations are discussed. Hypotheses are developed regarding “ethnic goods” and the effect of concentrations on the immigrant's language skills, as well as the effects on immigrant earnings of destination language skills and the linguistic concentration. These hypotheses are tested using PUMS data from the 1990 U.S. Census on adult male immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. Linguistic concentrations reduce the immigrant’s own English language skills. Moreover, immigrants’ earnings are lower the lower their English language proficiency and the greater the linguistic/ethnic concentration in their origin language of the area in which they live. The adverse effects on earnings of poor destination language skills and of immigrant concentrations exist independently of each other. The hypotheses regarding ethnic goods are supported by the data.


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