The Story of Sunflower: Acupuncture Became “Good Doctor” in Remote Areas(II)

【专栏】| Conlumists >微公益 | MicroCharity

By Yibai, Jointing.Media, in Shanghai, 2018-11-08

Image 2: Assistant teacher Wu Wenwen is giving a class to the students of Tibet Medical School(July 2017)
Image 3，4: Students carefully practice Acupuncture(July 2017)
Image 5: “Look, Taichong Point is here” (July 2015)
Image 6: Yang Yongxiao in the class of Liuliguang Tibetan Medicine School of Ganzi (July 2015)

Easy and attainable

As a layman, JM wondered why acupuncture was chosen for the Tibetan Medicine course. Dr. Yang explained that acupuncture is a means of treatment in TCM, the equipment is simple, it is easy to use millimeter needles and moxibustion to treat, it is inexpensive, and the effectiveness of treatment is clear.

After investigation, the Yingxiang learned that rheumatoid joint diseases, stomach diseases, etc. are very common in Tibetan highland areas. Acupuncture is the most economical treatment option. As a result, Sunflower’s week-long program not only provides students with an overview of the general framework of knowledge, but also teaches them how to use acupuncture to treat common ailments in the region. Considering that students also have a need for guidance in practice, Yang Yongxiao thought it might be time to build an online training platform that would be more effective than the current WeChat group they were using. If the teaching materials accumulated over a long period of time are digitized, the dissemination efficiency through the network can be improved, and more people who want to learn acupuncture can be helped in the future.

In fact, the road to Yingxiang Acupuncture and Moxibustion Public Education, which began in 2008, has had some twists and turns. The initial Introduction to Classical Acupuncture with Grandpa Jacques is a three-year course, and many people couldn’t stick with it. Together with Professor Zheng Weidong from the Shandong Medical College, Yang Yongxiao has tailored the curriculum specifically for the common and frequent-occurring disease in Tibetan areas, introduced holographic acupuncture, meridian acupuncture and other methods, and shortened the course to two years to adapt to China’s national conditions. Initially, Yingxiang sought trainees at the grassroots level, but found that many rural doctors either could not consistently use acupuncture because it is not as lucrative as Western medicine or were not interested in learning and using it. It was not until Sunflower began working with the Zuoqin Tibetan Medical School that Sunflower Project was able to find a steady stream of students.

The Sunflower Project is synergistic with the main business of Yingxiang TCM, so it is easier for Yang Yongxiao’s public welfare practice to become part of his life. He believes that “it is not so important whether the activity is commercial or charitable, the ultimate goal is to save lives and improve people’s health. For this reason, he does not have a vision of what Sunflower will accomplish. It seems more in line with his character to do what he can and wants to do.

The Chinese TV drama Barefoot Doctor Xiang Yanghua （《赤脚医生向阳花》）tells the story of a barefoot doctor who practices grassroots medicine with a handful of grass and a needle, treating local people. Dr. Yang said that Sunflower Project also aims to train a group of village doctors, the lowest level of doctors.

The Sunflower Project has been going on for eight years. Ying Xiang is still upholding the original intention and pushing forward all the way.

（note：Xiang Yang Hua（向阳花）means sunflower in Chinese.）

The circle goes on and on

Earlier this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Reforming and Improving the Incentive Mechanism for Training and Utilizing General Practitioners, which set the goal of having 2~3 qualified general practitioners for every 10,000 people in urban and rural areas by 2020; by 2030, there should be 5 qualified general practitioners for every 10,000 people in urban and rural areas. According to the National Health Planning Commission, by the end of 2016, there were 209,000 registered general practitioners in China, accounting for 6.6% of practicing (assistant) physicians, with 1.51 general practitioners per 10,000 people. This means that the shortage of general practitioners in China will reach 500,000 by 2030.

In 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly issued the Implementation Opinion on order model Free Education for Rural Order-oriented Medical Students.

For three consecutive years since 2010, China has provided free training for medical students in higher medical schools, focusing on the training of general medical personnel for township health centers and township-level health institutions.

Free medical students are recruited primarily from rural areas, with priority given to students from the county in which the unit is located. Before receiving a letter of enrollment, free medical students are required to sign a Targeted Employment Agreement with the training school and the local county-level health administration department, committing themselves to serve in the relevant primary health care institution for six years after graduation. And, according to the survey, less than half of the free orientation students agree with the work they are going to do, and less than one-tenth of them are willing to stay in the original unit after the service period.

It is not easy to get into medical school. It takes a long time to become a doctor. But after graduation, many medical students find it difficult to find a good work environment. Although the medical environment in big cities is much better than that in remote areas, medical resources are becoming scarcer every year.

If everyone can learn more about medicine, early prevention and treatment of pre-diseases, will the efficiency of social resources be improved a little, and will the overall health level of our country be improved a little?

Individuals are like cells and institutions are like organs, if society is like the human body. The non-core cells or organs have a limited impact on the whole body, but if each cell gives positive and valuable information to the body system, then the body system is more likely to be repaired.

Sunflower volunteers teach in remote areas to train future rural doctors. The power may be small, but the cycle can be endless.

(The end)

中文原文

Edited by Wind and DeepL
Image source: Yingxiang