Our New Educational Requirements Do They Make Sense?

by Shelley Page, Dr. TCM, TCMABC Chair


NOTE: This is the notice currently posted on the CTCMA website:

The Board, in its meeting on March 14, 2003, passed a resolution that a R.TCM.P (obtained either through the grandparented or full-registration route) may sit the first two Part III (doctor) exam without submitting further educational credits. The first Part III exam is expected to be in 2004, and the second one will be a year from the first.

April 15, 2004

CTCMABC
2nd Floor, 5050 Kingsway,
Burnaby, B.C.
V5H 4H2


Dear Mr. Nicol:

Re: Education Hours Required to Write Dr.TCM Exam

On February 25, 2004, a letter went out from the CTCMA to the TCM Schools in B.C. stating that the minimum requirements as set out in Schedule E (3,250 hours in 5 academic years including 1,050 hours of clinical instruction) must be met by candidates writing the examination in the fall of 2004.

This has resulted in confusion on the part of practitioners who have been working in the field for some years, who have been working toward being able to write the Dr. exam by first of all passing the acupuncture exam and the herbology exam in order to be licensed as TCMP’s.

These people represent several groups of practitioners who will be affected by the statement referred to in the above letter.

In March of 2003, the CTCMA Board made a motion, which was unanimously passed to wave the educational requirements for the first two sittings of the Dr. exam. This was done on the recommendation of the Registration Committee, as it solved many problems coming up in the grandparenting process, as well as problems concerning practitioners who have been caught in the transition period in licensing.

Many practitioners graduated at a time when they were not eligible for grandparenting, but also did not qualify for writing the exams based on the educational hours required. This is why the transition schedule was enacted.

It was felt at the time that these people should not be the victims of delays in making the Dr. exam available. The waving of the education requirements for the Dr. exam was not part of the transition schedule passed in November 2001. It was proposed and passed precisely because of the delay of this particular exam.

To stress that the educational requirements are now reverting back to what is set out in Schedule E makes no sense, as there has not yet been an opportunity to utilize the relaxing of the educational requirements for an exam that has not even been offered.

There will be NO ONE to take the exam. As far as I am aware, the ICTCM in Vancouver is the only college in B.C. offering the five-year course in TCM, and there are only a few graduates at this time. Further to that, most have not passed the required herbal and acupuncture exams.

And what is to be done with the grandparented registrants who passed the “assessment”, were awarded the TCMP level license, and told that they would be able to sit for the Dr. exam regardless of their educational hours?

I would appreciate you putting this item on the agenda for the Board meeting on April 16, 2004 during the discussion on the Dr. TCM Core Competencies.


Sincerely,

Shelley Page, Dr.TCM
Chair,
TCMA of B.C.


cc. Mr. Mason Loh, Dr. Ting Ting Jiang, Dr.Glenn Morezewich