My Journey of becoming a TCM Physician Chap 17: My lifetime 3 days going sleepless for THE TCM License Exam
This blog came at the right time where my emotions are stirred up to the highest peak because we are notified by THE Board that the Compulsory Continuing Education will start from 1 Apr 2020, which is tomorrow! What this means is every two years we need to fulfill hours of Continuing Education, if not our license will be revoked and we will not be able to practice anymore! Noting also we have to pay for all these compulsory courses. Coming absolutely at the right time when time is tough.
This brings me to a lot of self reflection about how tough it was to even reach this stage in my journey as a TCM doctor. And it makes me seriously question myself why continue this journey.
With the imposition of this new rule, there will definitely be a reduction in the pool of TCM doctors as many will find it absolutely draining monetarily, physically, psychologically, mentally. Having said that, up till this point, I do hope that you as patients out there realise how difficult it is for us to even put a needle into you or prescribe a herb to you. It is never about that 30 min or 1 hr you spent with me, it is the sacrifice of the years and efforts behind being trained to be a doctor. And for this I also speak up for the Western counterparts as I am aware of the decades of their youth and life given in exchange to become a specialist.
So recalling what happened for the TCM License Exam aka STRE during my time. I can only remember that I did not sleep for 3 days straight. Because the pressure and stress were so much and the stakes were so high. That’s speaking for me of course, as there might be people out there who just hacked it. But I guess for my batch, we were highly passionate about becoming TCM doctors and hence I believed the level of stress we faced was equivalent across, except they might manifest in other forms. Because without passing the license, we basically could not touch patients, let alone treat. So you could have a Degree in Chinese Medicine but you are not allowed to practise if you fail to qualify in the License Exam. Simply put. So can you imagine how intensive the stress level was?
Why 3 days? Because the whole license exam itself was 3 days. Yes, it’s not a one day and volah, everything got settled. No. If I remembered clearly, 1 day was theory, 1 day was practical, 1 days was face to face interview.
Theory was simply we had to regurgitate everything in 5 years that we were trained for. So from Anatomy and Physiology to Pathology, Herbology, Acupuncture etc. The number of books I remembered I had to imprint into my brain, maybe at least 10, all in Chinese Mandarin.
Practical was about location of acupoints and I think cupping and guasha (scrapping) where we had to demonstrate the Standard of Procedure to administer these hands on treatments. So correct location of the points was one big criteria, execution was another. I remembered we literally had to use cotton strings and stickers to show how we get to pinpoint those acupoints out. It was not like you just anyhow put the sticker on, we had to SHOW how we do it. It was like breaking down the steps to put a spoon of rice into your mouth, you get what I meant right?
Face to face interview was basically another very perverted examination where the interviewers could throw any questions to you from your five years of study. Literally anything. Like recitation of formulas, acupoints, how to do gynaecology checks, physiology of liver, Yin yang theory etc etc. Anything under the Sun of the five years we baked under the world of Chinese Medicine.
You see, my point of telling you all these and giving you a peek into what I have been through is to show how much it took to be sitting in front of you as a TCM doctor. TCM doctors are not like the quacks going around selling people black paste or mysterious pills as depicted in TV shows. That is the most misleading image painted towards this industry. And the presence of some TCM practices executed in salons and massage parlours really spoil the market and image of this profession, making it very tough for qualified FULL TIME TCM doctors like me and many others.
With the implementation of the license renewal bi-yearly, many good doctors may choose to end their journey if the going gets too tough. Each TCM doctor is special in his or her own way. No such thing as replicable like the pharmaceutical pills. So please have the due respect and appreciation to your TCM doctors, because they are hard to come by, irreplaceable and invaluable.
