Traditional Chinese medicine enjoys healthy following in the UK

After three years of studying acupuncture and an apprenticeship in a student clinic, Izabela Wilczynska is finally on her own and applying all she has learned in treating a patient.

The main complaint the elderly lady in front of her has is pain from blocked sinuses. After investigating her medical history and previous records, examining her palms, tongue, and pulse, Wilczynska lays the patient on a bed and prepares needles.

"Are you nervous?" asks Wilczynska.

"No," the lady replies. "I've tried Chinese acupuncture, which solved similar pain in my 20s when I was in Sri Lanka. It went really well."

Then, Wilczynska inserts a dozen fine needles into the lady's head, face, hands, and legs.

The needles are left in position for around 30 minutes before they are removed. In the meantime, Wilczynska puts an infrared heat lamp near to her patient, to enhance the therapy.

After the treatment, the lady asks: "When can I come again? I feel better."

The whole process was actually Wilczynska's final exam in her diploma course in Chinese acupuncture at the London Academy of Chinese Acupuncture, or LACA.

"She definitely can pass the exam," says Han Yonggang, who supervised the exam and who is a practicing traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, doctor and a professor at the academy. "But I expect more from her."

Han says Wilczynska did very well during the consultation part of the process but did not give an adequately thorough explanation of the treatment to the patient.

"There are differences between Chinese traditional medicine and the modern Western medical system, for example, checking the tongue is rare in Western medical practice," says Han. "So, she must explain her treatment very well to let patients feel safe."

Han also points out some minor mistakes and a lack of confidence in Wilczynska's performance.

"But it is common for new acupuncturists. She needs more practice."

Wilczynska was among the first cohort of 20 students graduating from the LACA, which was established in 2020 and that offers courses in acupuncture, herbal medicine, and tuina massage.

On July 28, the academy held a celebration for its first graduates, in a pub in London's Canary Wharf.

"I'm a little bit emotional, as you can imagine. After three years, we did it," said Wang Tianjun, LACA's principal, at the gathering of the students, lecturers, and their families and friends.

"During the pandemic, all traditional Chinese medicine doctors and practitioners shoulder a lot of work to support so many patients in this country. We noticed that we have this historical responsibility to hold the Chinese medicine here, not only during the pandemic but also in the long-term future," said Wang.

Wang found four other like-minded doctors of traditional Chinese medicine to start the academy. They are Tang Tiejun, Ye Liuzhong, Han Yonggang and She Jun. Each had earned degrees in China and had been teaching and practicing TCM in the United Kingdom.

A graduate of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in 1989, Wang worked in the profession in China for 18 years before completing a doctoral program at the university on acupuncture in the treatment of depression.

Wang moved to the UK in 2007 and taught at the University of East London UK until 2014. His latest book, Acupuncture for Brain: Treatment for Neurological and Psychological Disorders, was published by Springer in 2020.

"I am happy to see LACA has enrolled so many people interested in TCM," Wang said at the celebration.

"I still remember at the beginning, some of you were so worried about how to hold a needle. I remember your hands were shaking …" he said.

"Now that you've completed your education. We are colleagues. We are working together. We have to all take the responsibility together to make Chinese medicine beautiful, and wonderful in the UK."

Wang could have been talking about Wilczynska because she was scared of needles when she was young.

"I don't like needles and I was scared of them since I was a child. So, an acupuncture course, for me, is a kind of therapy, because I stopped being scared of needles," she said.

Wilczynska took the acupuncture course because she had a positive experience with TCM.

"It all started seven years ago, when I was very ill. I'd tried everything, and nothing helped me … Then somebody introduced me to Chinese medicine and said: 'Listen, you can change your diet. You eat your food, but with Chinese principles," she recalls.

Then, she bought a book by a Polish author who was a TCM practitioner in her native Poland.

"And I started using her advice, which was based on Chinese medicine. It helped me within weeks and then, after a year, I was full of energy."

Wilczynska used to be a public-speaking coach but, during the pandemic, she started to consider a career in TCM and found the course provided by LACA.

"It is a long journey. I wouldn't say it was very easy. It was quite hard sometimes. Because for us Europeans, I think it's completely different, it's a different culture, different understanding. I don't have that background," she says. "If something is happening in your body, it's never just physical. It's always something more than that. So, that was the most, I think, significant thing I've learned."

At the graduation celebration, Wilczynska and her classmates all received a diploma and an accreditation from the Chinese Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Alliance UK.

Wilczynska also received a gift from her professor at the academy — a book about Chinese medicinal plants and herbal drugs.

"That was actually very encouraging because he knew my dream is to be a herbalist," says Wilczynska. "Maybe, I will treat friends and other people at home first. And then I will open my own clinic."