The “Teacher Team of Emergency Internal Medicine Combined withTraditional Chinese and Western Medicine”

was shortlisted for the third batchof“ National Huang Danian-style Teacher Team” by the Ministry of Education

By Hu Yanfen

　　“As a doctor, he/she should cultivate his/her hearts and help others with kindness.” “As a teacher, he/she should preach the doctrine, teach the profession and answer the questions”. Those who possess these two identities at the same time would be placed high to realize the motto of “Superior doctors treat the nation, and the awakening starts from the people”. 

　　One hundred years ago, in the ideological wave of total westernization and the educational crisis of “omission of Chinese medicine”, Guangdong charities, chambers of commerce, pharmaceutical companies and other social leaders joined hands to save the day and founded the predecessor of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (GZUCM), i.e., Guangdong Specialized School of Traditional Chinese Medicine. From then on, the theory of Chinese medicine, which had stretched over thousands of years, officially entered the modern classroom. 

　　One hundred years later, faced with the school motto of “Superior doctors treat the nation, and the awakening starts from the people”, the teachers of GZUCM have re-interpreted the teachings of their predecessors. The concept of “Superior doctors treat the nation” requires that medical practitioners not only have the great medical spirit to cure the sickness, but also have the breadth of mind and sentiment of caring about the nation and serving the people with all their heart and soul. The concept of “the awakening starts from the people” emphasizes that the development of Chinese medicine should be based on forethought, and that it should keep pace with the times and be integrated with modern civilization and modern science and technology.

　　Evolving for over a century, especially when modernization of Chinese medicine has become a national strategy, the above thought of our forefathers has become more vigorous. Nowadays, generations of Chinese medicine practitioners have gathered from all directions, including many who have traveled far and wide, and have studied both Chinese and Western medicine. In their eyes, it is the awareness of cutting-edge technology of medical development and understanding of the limitations of Western medicine that led them to realize that Chinese medicine is an inexhaustible treasure-house of knowledge.

To Heal as A Doctor while to dedicate as A Teacher

　　As one of the founders of the discipline of Chinese Medicine Oncology, Zhou Daihan, a master of Chinese medicine and chief professor of GZUCM, who is 83 years old, often quotes the motto of Edward Trudeau, an American medical doctor and respiratory physician, “sometimes to cure, often to help, always to comfort”.

　　In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Zhou Daihan mastered the clinical treatment of tumors in Western medicine, and further realized the limitations of the concept of eliminating tumors with Western medicine. Therefore, as early as the end of the 1990s, Zhou Daihan started to introduce the concept of “survival with tumor” in the clinic, which updated the concept of cancer treatment. With the deepening of human understanding of tumors and the interpretation of genomics, in 2006, WHO described tumors as chronic diseases and controllable diseases, and the concept of tumors as chronic diseases was gradually accepted by people. 

　　GZUCM started the specialized training of Chinese medicine for cancer treatment early in China. At that time, although with no teaching materials, it set a precedent in Chinese medicine colleges and universities by initiating a teaching and research department of oncology and gradually established this specialty.

　　As the influence of the specialty expanded and the conditions for the formation of a discipline gradually matured, Zhou Daihan proceeded to take the lead in writing the first textbook of Oncology in Chinese Medicine. “During this process, we applied for undergraduate, master, and doctoral education, and finally the state approved the establishment of the Key Specialty of Oncology in Chinese Medicine. Thereafter, our application for Journal of Oncology in Chinese Medicine was also approved by the then State General Administration of Press and Publication, and it started publication in Guangdong in 2019, filling the gap of no professional academic journal of Oncology in Chinese Medicine in China.” Zhou Daihan said.

　　For the teachers of GZUCM, they have the dual roles of medical practitioners and teachers, so their heart must not only be put on the patients, but also in the students.

　　No one remembers when Zhang Zhongde became “Uncle De” in the minds of Cantonese people, even the veteran teachers who have been working with him for decades would suddenly freeze when asked about the origin of this nickname and laugh, “it seems that everyone has always called him so”.

　　“Uncle De” is the Vice President of GZUCM and the President of the Second Affiliated Hospital of GZUCM. Engaged in the teaching of Chinese medicine emergency medical treatment for 36 years, he is loyal to the cause of medicine, and his great deeds of helping others are numerous.

　　According to teachers and students , “Uncle De” has always dedicated to education in teaching, management and service throughout the work, not only as a guide for the growth of students, but also as a companion for them. He treats students as a teacher and like a father.

　　Uncle De believes that teaching and educating are the vocation of teachers, and that knowledge should be imparted to students in a reasonable manner without reservation, from which they can gain satisfaction and realize their value. 

　　Pan Huafeng, Vice President of GZUCM, told reporters that for teachers of GZUCM, should learn knowledge about the ancient and the modern, develop outstanding skills and have a compassionate heart. Only in this way can they do a good job in education and medical treatment with compassion. 

Pathfinders and Leaders

　　Statistics show that in 2022, 2.3 million women worldwide have been diagnosed with breast cancer and 670,000 died of breast cancer, of which 357,200 cases were diagnosed in China.

　　Fortunately, in the field of breast cancer treatment, there is a Chinese medicine practitioner, Lin Yi, who has been diligently pursuing and pioneering, and has almost exhausted her life’s work for this purpose. Lin Yi is a national medical master and the chief physician of the Second Affiliated Hospital of GZUCM. She has been practicing in the field of medicine for nearly 60 years, constantly drawing wisdom from the classics of Chinese medicine, laying the foundation for China’s modern Chinese medicine breast pathology, and establishing the all-disease-types, all-around, full-cycle prevention and treatment system of Chinese medicine breast pathology. Lin Yi, who is nearly 80 years old, still insists on attending clinics six days a week, and serves more than 10,000 patients annually, of which more than 70% are patients with complex and serious diseases.

　　In July 1997, Lin Yi was approved by the State Administration of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Department of Health and Department of Health of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to supervise apprentices and take charge of breast disciplines in Guangdong and Guangxi. She was invited to work in Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine to meet the challenge of setting up a breast department from scratch.

　　Under Lin Yi’s appeal, the hospital set up a basic team for breast disease prevention and treatment research and a team for transformational research of breast disease, which injected inexhaustible power into the basic and research of breast disease, and carried out a series of high-level researches.

　　After a short period of 5 years, the Department of Breast was approved as a national key specialty in 2002. Now it has become the largest breast disease center in China with Chinese medicine and the combination of Chinese and Western medicine as its feature. The breast department serves more than 190,000 patients annually, with more than 1,000 breast cancer surgeries, ranked first among Chinese medicine hospitals in China. In the past five years, the breast disease team has won four provincial and ministerial-level scientific and technological progress awards and two national-level scientific and technological progress awards. Its scientific research and innovation have begun to bear fruit.

To Interpret Chinese Medicine with Cutting-edge Technology

　　A hundred years ago, the strong penetration of Western medicine directly led to the decline of Chinese medicine. However, Chinese medicine should not be lost as the key to unlock the treasures of Chinese civilization. In order to enhance the scientific nature and credibility of Chinese medicine, to promote the innovative development of Chinese medicine, to further the integration of Chinese and Western medicine, and to enable the world to share the health benefits of Chinese medicine, using modern science to interpret the principles of traditional Chinese medicine is the right way to develop modern medicine.

　　Liu Liang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of the National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine, Director of the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Chinese Medicine, Chief Scientist of the Guangdong Academy of Chinese Medicine, has studied and worked in GZUCM for more than ten years. During that time, he also worked as a visiting scholar in Germany, served as the Dean of the School of Chinese Medicine of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and as the President of the Macao University of Science and Technology, among other positions. Half a lifetime away, Liu Liang returned to Guangzhou when he was over 60 years old, and has become a powerful magnet attracting talents from all over the country, to jointly face the challenge of strategic significance for the development of Chinese medicine, i.e., to interpret the principle of Chinese medicine with modern science, so as to make up for its missing part in the world arena of medicine.

　　In an interview Liu Liang said, “It is a good time to explain the complex principles of Chinese medicine to the world.” He then elaborated in detail:

　　Firstly, it is supported by national policy. Secondly, it is guaranteed by technical support. “With the help of artificial intelligence, we analyze the multivariate mass spectrometry data and multivariate vitalomics data to find the correlation between these complex data, as well as to create a large model of Chinese medicine, which will bring revolutionary changes to the study of Chinese medicine.” Liu Liang said.

　　Liu Liang believes that through using AI and other advanced technologies, Chinee medicine will definitely move towards a modernized clinical diagnosis and treatment system. The modernization of Chinese medicine should definitely contain the modernization of Chinese medicine.

　　“This is our original intention to establish the National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Syndrome, which is the only national key laboratory in the field approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology. This key laboratory can lead to the realization of multifaceted breakthroughs, thus establish new research ideas and technical paths. That's why the lab is now focusing on several important issues.” Liu Liang analyzed.

　　In December 2023, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province approved the establishment of the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Chinese Medicine in the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, with GZUCM and Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine as the main participants, and appointed Liu Liang as Director of the laboratory. “I have to thank the State and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province for supporting this platform. With such a platform, we can attract excellent talents. In my laboratory, there are 39 members in the academic committee, of which 28 are academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It is the great scientific value of this endeavor that can gather so many high-end talents.” Liu Liang said.

The principles and the Succession

　　What makes a good university is the amount and quality of masters it owns. Academician Liu Liang, National Medical Master Zhou Daihan and Lin Yi, the internationally renowned Artemisinin anti-malarial expert Li Guoqiao ...These are not only a series of capitalized names on the “famous teachers’ book” of GZUCM, but also the models to be followed by hundreds of aspiring, talented and virtuous students, forming a magnetic field for gathering talents from all sides. 

　　There is perseverance of the old generations as well as the succession of new generation. Behind the national medical masters, a number of famous scholars and professors including Qihuang Scholars, National Youth, National “973 program” Chief Scientists, continue to emerge.

　　Teachers of Chinese medicine always put benevolence and virtue first. GZUCM takes the construction of teachers’ morality and ethics as the primary task of improving the quality of teachers in the new era and doing a good job of education to people’s satisfaction. It is committed to cultivating teachers to become the teachers with “Four Goods” and the “Four guiding lights”. In recent years, many representatives of morality have emerged from the faculty member of GZUCM, including Zhang Zhongde (the National Moral Model nominee), Luo Songping( the National May Day Labor Medal winner, the Outstanding National High Education Teacher of Chinese medicine), Li Saimei (the National Model Teacher, the National Educational System Women’s Pacesetter), Lin Lizhu (representative of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, the ninth batch of national post of the Lei Feng Pacesetter, the national “most beautiful doctor”) and so on. 

　　In order to build a first-class faculty, GZUCM utilizes the concept of “pass, help, take” by the establishment of masters’ teaching studios and civic and political master teachers’ studios to cultivate the ability and quality of young and middle-aged teachers. It has started Huang Dainian-style teacher team cultivation work to cultivate high-quality professional and innovative university faculty system. Nowadays, the quality and quantity of the teaching staff are improving together. According to statistics, GZUCM has 13,599 teaching staff, including 1,339 in the main campus, 12,260 in affiliated hospitals, and 2,340 with senior titles. There are 173 national talents and 312 provincial talents.

　　The university tries to form a faculty team with dynamics through refined management. In order to further stimulate the vitality of teachers, GZUCM has actively deepened the reform of establishment and salary performance. The implementation of the pre-employment system for young teachers and the post-doctoral system for teachers has ended the history of the enrollment of fresh PhDs. In addition, the university continues to deepen the reform of the income distribution system, so that the salary and benefits system can be optimized to stick to the principle of “salary based on job position, distribution according to work, emphasis on performance, and remuneration for excellent performance”, thus those who works in teaching and research front-line and key positions, as well as business backbones and those who make outstanding contributions can enjoy a more fair and reasonable remuneration...All these have greatly improved the enthusiasm and initiative of the faculty and staff.

　　GZUCM has also implemented the refined classification management for teachers, improved the objectives and assessment of teachers' positions, and initially formed an employment system for teachers’ positions that allows them to be raised or downed according to their performance. 

　　Standing on the new starting point of the next hundred years, facing the frontiers of science and technology in the world, competing in the main battlefield of the economy, addressing the major needs of the country, and shouldering the responsibility of the life and health of the people, the teachers and students of GZUCM will come together more closely to create a new paradigm for the development of Chinese medicine and give birth to a stronger educational potential, more vital oriental medicine and wisdom of world governance.