The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 22 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Which medicine? Whose standard? Critical reflections on medical integration in China
Open accessAbstract
There is a prevailing conviction that if traditional medicine (TRM) or complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are integrated into healthcare systems, modern scientific medicine (MSM) should retain its principal status. This paper contends that this position is misguided in medical contexts where TRM is established and remains vibrant. By reflecting on the Chinese policy on three entrenched forms of TRM (Tibetan, Mongolian and Uighur medicines) in western regions of China, the paper challenges the ideology of science that lies behind the demand that all traditional forms of medicine be evaluated and reformed according to MSM standards. Tibetan medicine is used as a case study to indicate the falsity of a major premise of the scientific ideology. The conclusion is that the proper integrative system for TRM and MSM is a dual standard based system in which both TRM and MSM are free to operate according to their own medical standards.
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“In clinical practice, Mongolian hospitals that were established in the People's Republic of China, for example, had to equip themselves with advanced modern Western diagnostic and therapeutic facilities in order to meet the new demands of a more educated patient public and to compete with modern biomedical hospitals (Fan and Holliday 2007).”
From From “Lama Doctors” to “Mongolian Doctors”: Regulations of Inner Mongolian Buddhist Medicine under Changing Regimes and the Crises of Modernity (1911–1976) (2019) · cites this paper as Fan and Holliday 2007
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“That the Chinese model of healthcare integration is neither complete nor successful is a fact that has been pointed out by many scholars.”
From Indian Imaginaries of Chinese Success in the Global Herbal Medicine Market: A Critical Assessment (2019) · cites this paper as R. Fan and Holliday 2007
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“Mongolian medical practitioners were required to be proficient in biomedicine, but the reverse was not the case (Fan and Holliday 2007).”
From From “Lama Doctors” to “Mongolian Doctors”: Regulations of Inner Mongolian Buddhist Medicine under Changing Regimes and the Crises of Modernity (1911–1976) (2019) · cites this paper as Fan and Holliday 2007
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Citations
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Cited by
Chung, V. C., Lau, C. H., Yeoh, E., & Griffiths, S. M. (2009) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/1472-6963-9-207 · Cited by 58
Chung, V. C., Hillier, S. M., Lau, C. H., Wong, S. Y. S., Yeoh, E., & Griffiths, S. M. (2010) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.10.021 · Cited by 54
Integrative, Traditional and Complementary Medicine
Bodeker, G. C., & Kariippanon, K. (2024) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-99967-0.00072-7 · Cited by 43
‘Global Pharma in the Land of Snows: Tibetan Medicines, sars, and Identity Politics across Nations’
Adams, V., & Craig, S. (2008) · Asian Medicine · doi:10.1163/157342108x381205 · Cited by 42
What could ′integrative′ medicine mean? Social science perspectives on contemporary Ayurveda
Sujatha, V (2011) · Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine · doi:10.4103/0975-9476.85549 · Cited by 38
Metadata
- Authors
- Fan, R., & Holliday, I.
- Affiliations
- City University of Hong Kong (HK)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Corresponding author
- Fan, Ruiping
- ORCID
- Fan, Ruiping
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Ethics
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2007-07-30
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 454-461
- ISSN
- 0306-6800 (ISSN-L)
- 1473-4257
- PMC
- PMC2598165
- OpenAlex
- W2069146397
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 10.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Keywords
- traditional medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, medical integration, Tibetan medicine, Mongolian medicine, Uighur medicine, ideology of science, medical standards, healthcare policy, China, western China, integrative medicine
- MeSH terms
- Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Health, China, Delivery of Health Care, Health Policy, Humans, Medicine, East Asian Traditional, Rural Health, Medical Laboratory Science
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
