Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Competency in the Twenty-First Century Using Swot Analysis
Abstract
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an age-old trade with history dating back thousands of years. With a vast array of treatment methods and remedies using herbs, TCM is generally accepted among the Chinese population as a viable source of treatment. At the same time, with the rise of western medicine in the 1800s, we will see how TCM manages to keep up with the pace of modernization and remain competitive. Using the SWOT model, we will classify TCM according to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to view its competency in the twenty-first century. While we look at factors that make TCM unique and a strong competitor against western medicine, we also identify its weaknesses that may cause its decline. In this era, TCM is seen to rival western medicine. In view of this, we also take a look at opportunities that TCM would take advantage of in order to advance its research and treatment methods. On the other hand, we also find out threats that will negatively affect TCM, in terms of productivity, influence and advancement.
All too often in this day and age that whenever we feel unwell, with fever, the flu or just a plain cough, we are told to go see a doctor, or just consume a dose of over-the-counter drugs like Paracetamol. Seldom in our modern society do we see a Sinseh, or traditional medicine practitioner to boil herbs into a bitter tasting mix, which apparently heals just as well as Western medicine. Medical examinations are made with advanced equipment like a stethoscope or a thermometer instead of the “old” way, by measuring one’s pulse. So the question is raised: how will TCM stay competitive with the advancement of technology and will it fade away with advances in western medicine? According to Liu, Xu and Zhang (2010), “Traditional Chinese medicine is a rarity contributed by Chinese people to the whole human world as well as a crystallization of Chinese people’s wisdom accumulated over thousands of years.” This is
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an age-old trade with history dating back thousands of years. With a vast array of treatment methods and remedies using herbs, TCM is generally accepted among the Chinese population as a viable source of treatment. At the same time, with the rise of western medicine in the 1800s, we will see how TCM manages to keep up with the pace of modernization and remain competitive. Using the SWOT model, we will classify TCM according to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in order to view its competency in the twenty-first century. While we look at factors that make TCM unique and a strong competitor against western medicine, we also identify its weaknesses that may cause its decline. In this era, TCM is seen to rival western medicine. In view of this, we also take a look at opportunities that TCM would take advantage of in order to advance its research and treatment methods. On the other hand, we also find out threats that will negatively affect TCM, in terms of productivity, influence and advancement.
All too often in this day and age that whenever we feel unwell, with fever, the flu or just a plain cough, we are told to go see a doctor, or just consume a dose of over-the-counter drugs like Paracetamol. Seldom in our modern society do we see a Sinseh, or traditional medicine practitioner to boil herbs into a bitter tasting mix, which apparently heals just as well as Western medicine. Medical examinations are made with advanced equipment like a stethoscope or a thermometer instead of the “old” way, by measuring one’s pulse. So the question is raised: how will TCM stay competitive with the advancement of technology and will it fade away with advances in western medicine? According to Liu, Xu and Zhang (2010), “Traditional Chinese medicine is a rarity contributed by Chinese people to the whole human world as well as a crystallization of Chinese people’s wisdom accumulated over thousands of years.” This is
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