Starting in the fall, students of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture in Canada will no longer be able to take their national registration exams in Chinese.
The move has prompted confusion and outrage from current and potential students who had hoped to study here, in part because B.C. is the only province to have allowed the language accommodation. And some practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine fear only offering the exam in English will lead to the elimination of Chinese classes and weaken the development of this medicine in Canada.
”It’s like if you study Shakespeare [literature], it’s best to learn it in English. The same theory applies to studying TCM in Chinese,” said Qiu Yunbin, who enrolled in the Vancouver Beijing College of Chinese Medicine in September. His course lasts at least two years for students of acupuncture and another year for certification in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) program.
He said he and dozens of his classmates found the decision “completely unacceptable.” They’ve signed a letter to the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British Columbia (CTCMA).
Mr. Qiu said if the cancellation of Chinese exams in B.C. is final, some of his peers may quit the program and he will consider switching his studies to California, where tests in Chinese are available, or returning to China.
Part of what has rankled practitioners and students of TCM in British Columbia is the way in which the change was communicated, without prior consultation. It was included in an updated candidate handbook for the Pan-Canadian Entry-Level Exam on Dec. 9, 2020. The update states the simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese versions of the exams will be terminated after October, 2021. After that point, the exams will be available in English. In Quebec and Ontario, they can be offered in French on request and with sufficient notice. The option for Chinese versions had only been available in B.C.
Dan Garcia, executive director of the Canadian Alliance of Regulatory Bodies for Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists (CARB-TCMP), said the change was not taken lightly. It was posted to the organization’s website on Jan. 12 along with an explanation that it was meant to ensure the national exam treats all candidates fairly.
“In deciding the availability of the Pan-Canadian Examinations, we must also consider that the licensing regimes in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, and Quebec do not permit candidates to take the exams in Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese,” the notice reads.
It further states that the process of offering credentialing exams in alternative languages is “lengthy, resource-intensive and costly,” and to pass along this cost along to candidates could create a financial burden to them.
But some members of the TCM community in B.C. said the the move may curb TCM’s research and development in Canada because the Chinese language and culture are the origins of TCM.
“If everything will be in English, then the authentic TCM will go off. The quality and development of this profession will be affected,” said Dr. John Yang, president of the Federation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Colleges of Canada, who also teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in the Vancouver area.
The British Columbia Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Practitioners (ATCMA) issued a statement recently, saying its members are “disappointed, confused and upset.”
“From what the ATCMA administration can gather, the decision was made purely because of cost,” the statement said. “No alternatives were offered or discussed before this unilateral decision was made.”
The association shared a link to an online petition against the termination of Chinese exams. Started two weeks ago, the petition has so far received nearly 1,900 signatures.
Dr. Li Wenpei, president of the college that has been providing TCM training in Vancouver since 2003, said that he learned of the news from a student. He said the policy change has been a big blow to all the students who planned to write exams in Chinese.
“Students are anxious … they’ve spent [money] and time … Who is going to be responsible for this?” he said in an interview.
Mr. Li said he is unsure about the future of his school, which has offered courses mainly in Chinese.
The exams used to be taken once a year but now take place twice a year. Mr. Garcia said at the October, 2020, sitting, there were about 450 candidates, and about 11 per cent selected the simplified Chinese or traditional Chinese forms.
Mary Wu, president of the Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, called the decision in British Columbia “too fast.” She said current students should not be affected and the regulations should not take effect for another three years. But she pointed out that writing tests in English could reflect a candidate’s language proficiency, which is key for personnel who practise medicine.
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Xiao Xu