School of Chinese Medicine: One of Hong Kong's First Chinese Medicine Degree Programmes, Established in 1998, and the Coexistence of Chinese and Western Medicine

This article is a factual archive within Reference Area 11 (Medicine). No credibility badges are assigned. Each claim is individually supported by official or secondary sources. It focuses specifically on the establishment, prior academic accumulation, and current institutional structure of the School of Chinese Medicine at CUHK. It complements 11-medical-hospital/faculty-of-medicine.md (the Faculty of Medicine structure) and 01-academics/special-departments.md (the School of Chinese Medicine's cross-faculty positioning under 'Special Departments'). The parallel coexistence of Chinese and Western medicine within CUHK's medical system is a defining characteristic that sets it apart from purely Western-medicine institutions.

# 1. Before the School: From the 'Chinese Medicine Research Group' to the 'Institute of Chinese Medicine'

Before the School of Chinese Medicine was formally established in 1998, CUHK had already accumulated over two decades of research in Chinese materia medica and medicine — a 'pre-history' often overlooked in popular accounts, yet crucial for understanding how the School could become a fully-fledged system right from its founding in 1998.

According to publicly available records, CUHK's systematic research into Chinese medicine can be traced back to 1975, when a 'Chinese Medicine Research Group' was set up under the Faculty of Science. By 1979, this group had been upgraded to the 'Chinese Medicinal Material Research Centre', which began systematic chemical analysis and identification of Chinese herbal materials. This phase of work focused on 'Chinese materia medica' (hence the Centre's name), emphasising chemistry and pharmacology, and had not yet involved clinical education in Chinese medicine.

Entering the late 1990s, with Hong Kong's handover approaching, the legal status and higher-education landscape of Chinese medicine became a societal issue in Hong Kong. According to sources, prior to the handover, Chinese medicine had long lacked formal recognition and legal status in Hong Kong. Around the time of the handover, Hong Kong society began to push for the formal incorporation of Chinese medicine education into the university system. It was against this backdrop that CUHK and Hong Kong Baptist University almost simultaneously established their Schools of Chinese Medicine in 1998.

'Chinese materia medica research' and 'Chinese medicine education' were two parallel streams that later converged: CUHK's chemical and pharmacological research into Chinese medicinal materials (beginning with the Chinese Medicine Research Group in 1975) took the lead, representing a 'science-based' approach. The clinical training and degree education of Chinese medicine practitioners (beginning with the School of Chinese Medicine in 1998) came later, representing the 'clinical medicine' track. Around the year 2000, the University further established the Institute of Chinese Medicine, focusing on translational and applied research in Chinese medicine. Professor Leung Ping-chung (梁秉中), a Hong Kong medical scientist, was appointed its Director. Professor Leung originally specialised in orthopaedics and microsurgery before shifting his focus to the modernisation of Chinese medicine, making him a representative figure in CUHK's Chinese medicine research lineage. By this point, the two streams had broadly converged: on one side, the degree-granting 'School of Chinese Medicine'; on the other, the research-oriented 'Institute of Chinese Medicine'. Advancing separately yet in concert, they jointly form the foundation of CUHK's present-day Chinese medicine establishment.

# 2. Establishment: One of Hong Kong's First Cohort of Chinese Medicine Degree Programmes

According to the official introduction of the CUHK School of Chinese Medicine^※, the CUHK School of Chinese Medicine was formally established in 1998. This year holds significant weight in the history of Chinese medicine higher education in Hong Kong — according to the English Wikipedia article 'Faculties of Medicines in Hong Kong'^※, Hong Kong Baptist University's School of Chinese Medicine was also established in that same year (1998) .

'Among the first', not 'the very first': It is a common claim that CUHK's School of Chinese Medicine was 'Hong Kong's first school of Chinese medicine', but this is imprecise — according to the sources, the Schools of Chinese Medicine at CUHK and Hong Kong Baptist University were both established in 1998, making them the first cohort of higher-education institutions for Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. This archive presents them side-by-side according to the sources, avoiding any exaggerated 'solely the first' claim. The establishment of these Schools of Chinese Medicine in 1998 marked the formal entry of Chinese medicine into Hong Kong's university degree-education system — a critical step in its institutionalisation and standardisation: before this, Chinese medicine practitioners were mostly trained through master-apprentice transmission or private colleges, lacking unified degree qualifications and curriculum standards. After 1998, Chinese medicine education, for the first time, had a university structure and degree framework parallel to that of Western medicine.

At its inception, the School of Chinese Medicine faced a regulatory environment still in formation: Hong Kong's Chinese Medicine Ordinance was only passed by the Legislative Council in 1999, and the registration system for Chinese medicine practitioners was also in its nascent stages. In a sense, the early graduates of the CUHK School of Chinese Medicine were a generation that 'grew up in step' with Hong Kong's Chinese medicine regulatory system — while completing their degree education, they witnessed the gradual implementation of institutional frameworks such as practitioner registration and the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong. This is why the School's curriculum design, from the very beginning, emphasised a dual focus on 'knowledge and clinical skills in Chinese Medicine, complemented with modern medical knowledge'. According to the Faculty of Medicine's official 'Schools, Departments & Unit' page^※, the School's mission is to nurture 'high-calibre Chinese medicine practitioners who meet the highest standards of professional knowledge and ethical conduct'.

# 3. Scale: Over a Thousand Graduates and Programme Offerings

According to the official introduction of the CUHK School of Chinese Medicine^※ and the Baidu Baike entry for 'School of Chinese Medicine, CUHK'^※, the School has trained over 1,000 to 1,500 graduates since its establishment (official figures stated at different times vary slightly within this range, all indicating a magnitude of 'over a thousand'). The School now offers a complete spectrum of Chinese medicine degrees:

According to CUHK Undergraduate Admissions' 'Bachelor of Chinese Medicine' page^※, the Bachelor of Chinese Medicine is an extended-year professional programme that systematically cultivates professionals equipped with theoretical knowledge and clinical competence in Chinese medicine. The curriculum also covers foundational knowledge in modern medicine, echoing the School's goal of producing graduates proficient in both Chinese and Western medicine.

The 'dual-track' logic of the curriculum: A close look at the School's degree spectrum reveals a common logic — at almost every level, it offers a dual-track design consisting of 'coursework-based' programmes (for newcomers/full-time students) and 'research or in-service advanced study' (for practising Chinese medicine practitioners). This is no coincidence. Since its inception, the School of Chinese Medicine has had to cultivate a new generation of Chinese medicine practitioners 'from scratch', while simultaneously providing an advanced pathway for practising practitioners seeking to upgrade their qualifications or transition into research. This is a discipline undergoing rapid professionalisation, requiring attention to both ends of the talent spectrum: 'nurturing the new' and 'upgrading the existing'.

# 4. Equal Emphasis on Clinical Practice and Research: Teaching Clinic and 2014 Relocation

A distinctive feature of the School of Chinese Medicine is its integration of teaching, clinical practice, and research. According to the Clinical Services page of the CUHK School of Chinese Medicine^※:

• The School operates a Chinese Medicine Specialty Clinic cum Clinical Teaching and Research Centre, where students receive training in a real clinical environment.
• The clinic is equipped with 8 general consultation rooms and 1 specialty consultation room, supported by a computerised system handling appointment booking, registration, consultation, billing, and dispensing processes.
• The clinic provides specialist treatments including acupuncture, orthopaedics, and tuina, alongside herbal dispensing services for both raw Chinese medicinal materials and granule formulations, as well as decoction services.
• The clinic's clinical services are led by professors, professional consultants, lecturers, and senior practising Chinese medicine practitioners.
• Clinical training covers various specialties of Chinese medicine, while also conducting evidence-based medicine research and providing internships for Chinese medicine graduates.

The School's physical premises also underwent a significant relocation. According to Baidu Baike^※, in September 2014, the School moved into a new purpose-built teaching block within the Li Wai Chun Building at Chung Chi College. The facility houses dedicated research laboratories for work including the purification of chemical compounds from Chinese herbs, analytical standardisation, pharmacological studies, and clinical testing. The move to Chung Chi College, rather than co-locating with the Faculty of Science to which it originally belonged or the later-integrated Faculty of Medicine campus, in some ways resonates with Chung Chi College's own collegiate tradition of 'Sino-Western integration' (see Chung Chi College).

According to the Faculty of Medicine's official page^※, the School's research focuses on three major areas: translational and clinical research into musculoskeletal disorders, central nervous system disorders, and cancer. The School also participates in the 'Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards' project and collaborates with international partners on evidence-based services and training.

The Chinese medicine version of 'integrating teaching, research, and clinical care': This structure mirrors, in a different key, the Western-medicine Faculty of Medicine's model of 'using the Prince of Wales Hospital as a teaching hospital and integrating teaching, research, and clinical care' (see faculty-of-medicine-founding.md). The School of Chinese Medicine similarly employs its 'teaching clinic' as the site for both student clinical training and Chinese medicine research. Chinese medicine is thus no longer merely a craft transmitted orally from master to apprentice; it is incorporated into the modern university system of integrating teaching, research, and clinical care: students follow practising Chinese medicine practitioners on consultations in the clinic, the same set of case data is used for evidence-based research, and the research findings in turn feed back into teaching and clinical standards — a closed loop.

# 5. Cooperation with Mainland China: Clinical Placement Bases and Joint Training

The clinical training offered by the School of Chinese Medicine is not confined to Hong Kong. According to Baidu Baike^※, the School has signed an agreement with Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital to undertake students' professional clinical placements and engages in teaching and research collaborations with multiple Chinese medicine institutions in mainland China. Such arrangements are not uncommon across CUHK disciplines — medicine, nursing, and other subjects similarly maintain established clinical placement pipelines with medical institutions in the mainland (see faculty-of-medicine.md). However, for the School of Chinese Medicine, this layer of cooperation carries additional academic significance: the theoretical and clinical traditions of Chinese medicine are rooted in mainland China. Collaboration with mainland Chinese medicine universities and hospitals serves not only the practical need for students to gain access to larger patient volumes and richer clinical experience, but also represents a way to maintain continuity with the academic traditions of Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine education in Hong Kong cannot be a completely self-contained system; it requires ongoing exchange with the 'source' of Chinese medicine.

# 6. Integration into the Faculty of Medicine in 2013: A Unique Case of Cross-Faculty Reorganisation

The academic affiliation of the School of Chinese Medicine within CUHK underwent a significant adjustment. According to the Faculty of Medicine's official 'Milestones'^※, Chinese medicine subjects originally belonged to the Faculty of Science. On 1 July 2013, they were formally integrated into the Faculty of Medicine, becoming one of its five constituent schools (alongside the School of Biomedical Sciences, the Nethersole School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, and the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care).

This represents a rare case of 'cross-faculty migration' within CUHK's academic structure. From an institutional logic perspective, the reasoning is understandable: while the chemical and pharmacological research into Chinese medicinal materials (the School's 'science-faculty DNA') is certainly important, the core mission of the School of Chinese Medicine is ultimately to train Chinese medicine practitioners capable of clinical practice. This aligns closely with the Faculty of Medicine's mission of 'training healthcare professionals', and increasingly diverges from the Faculty of Science's positioning around 'fundamental scientific research'. The 2013 integration, in a sense, recalibrated the School's institutional home from 'what it researches' to 'whom it trains'.

# 7. Parallel Coexistence: A Defining Feature of CUHK's Medical System

The existence of the School of Chinese Medicine gives CUHK's medical system a unique structure of 'parallel coexistence of Chinese and Western medicine'. According to English Wikipedia^※, CUHK's Faculty of Medicine has expanded into a vast system encompassing multiple schools and departments, including Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Chinese Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, and Public Health — with Chinese medicine forming an important pillar.

Why 'parallel coexistence' holds particular significance for CUHK: CUHK is a university founded on the mission of being grounded in Chinese culture yet integrating the best of China and the West (see 00-overview/history.md). In the medical field, 'Western medicine' represents the modern medical system, while 'Chinese medicine' represents China's traditional medicine — the parallel existence of both at CUHK is a concrete embodiment of the University's mission to 'integrate China and the West' within the realm of medicine. On one side, world-class Western-medicine research in areas like NIPT and translational oncology (see ../04-research/nipt-deepdive.md); on the other, the School of Chinese Medicine, which started with Chinese medicine research in 1975 and was formally established in 1998, alongside a State Key Laboratory encompassing medicinal plant research (see ../04-research/state-key-laboratories.md). These two lineages have run parallel within the same university for nearly half a century, giving CUHK's medical enterprise its distinctive character. This parallel existence is not a mere 'disciplinary patchwork': the School of Chinese Medicine's clinical clinic and the Western-medicine Prince of Wales Hospital follow the same logic of the 'teaching hospital / teaching clinic'. The School's research also pursues the international standards of evidence-based medicine. What stands side by side is not just two systems of knowledge, but the same modern university methodology of 'integrating teaching, research, and clinical care'.

Further reading: Faculty of Medicine Structure and Clinical Departments; Founding of the Faculty of Medicine and Its Founding Dean; Prince of Wales Hospital and SARS; Faculty of Medicine In-Depth Archive; Special Departments (Translation, Music, Architecture, Chinese Medicine); State Key Laboratories (including medicinal plants).