HUTCM covers an area of 1 856 mu, with 379 000m2 of teaching and research buildings. It comprises 12 schools: the School of Basic Medical Sciences, the School of TCM pharmacy, etc. It has 6 affiliated hospitals, 12 research centers, and 91 teaching practice bases. Among its 2 522 staff members, HUTCM has 632 full-time teachers including 253 professors, and associate professors, 278 supervisors of master's programs, 18 part-time supervisors of doctoral programs, and 95 of the teaching staff members were awarded doctoral degrees.
In its 50-year history, observing the traditional spirit of “inheritance and innovation”, HNTCM has been trying to probe the laws of TCM talent training, to develop a system which can both meet the laws of modern higher education and embody the training features of TCM, thus fulfilling its task in cultivating large number of qualified talents with moral integrity and professional competence. In 1958, the university set up the specialty of TCM, and in 1959 the first specialty of TCP (traditional Chinese pharmacy) in China. As one of the first approved educational institutes to award master’s degree, the university started its master's programs in 1979 and its joint doctoral programs in 1997 (formally approved in 2003 as the Joint Doctoral Program by the Ministry of Education). Currently there are 14 undergraduate specialties concerning 4 disciplines such as medicine, management, engineering and humanities. There are 4 A-level disciplines and 23 other disciplines approved to award master’s degree, among which 8 disciplines cooperate with other colleges and institutes for joint doctorate programs. The university has trained 62 PhD and 2 122 Master postgraduates, and over 40 000 graduates.
In recent years, HCTCM has been awarded honorable titles such as National Advanced Unit in Cultivating Teacher’s Morality, Provincial Advanced Unit for Academic Degree and Postgraduate Education, Provincial Advanced Unit for Achievements in Political and Ideologicalcultivation. In 2006, the university was ranked as one of the top excellent institutes of higher education both in the Assessment of Work Level of Undergraduate Teaching by the Ministry of Education and the Provincial Assessment of Moral Education in Colleges and Universities.
A)Talents-oriented strengthening strategies to ensure a qualified teaching staff
With teaching faculty construction as its key task, a series of measures in carrying out the talent-strengthening-college policy have been taken to enhance the construction of a competent teaching faculty: accepting specially engaged professors, selecting distinguished teachers, establishing 3-level teacher training system, inviting emeritus professors and outstanding experts both at home and abroad, with combined policies of introducing and training to attract advanced talents. In recent 5 years, 65 doctors of medicine have been brought in and professionally trained. A competent teaching staff has been formed which comprises: 4 specially engaged professors, 18 expert winners of special government allowance, 24 provincial top excellent experts, 36 skilled guiding teachers of the National TCM Heritage Project, 13 national top excellent TCM clinical professionals, 20 winners of lifelong achievements for TCM, 13 Provincial and 43 Bureau academic leading persons, 40 government-sponsored young core teachers. Altogether, there are 40 teachers who won governmental funds for innovative talents, for provincial outstanding young scholors, for supporting excellent talents of the new century sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and for the Innovation Project of Distinguished Researchers.
B) Effective methods to promote all first-level TCM disciplines to key provincial subjects
Basing Henan province, keeping the whole nation in view, serving the society, holding the cultivation of traditional Chinese medicine as its main task, HUTCM has been dedicated to expand relative and interdisciplinary subjects and now has preliminarily formed a system of disciplines based mainly on traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese pharmacy, a system multi-disciplinary subjects with outstanding predominance and unique characteristics in its field.
In the past 5 years, the fruitful reform both in curriculum system has facilitated a set of brand specialities, among which Traditional Chinese Medicine was approved as one of the characteristic specialties by the Ministries of both Education and Finance; Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, Clinical Medicine of traditional Chinese and Western medicine, together with Acupuncture Moxibustion and traditional Chinese Tuina Medicine are approved as the provincial brand specialties. The teaching faculty of traditional Chinese medicine was honored as one of the provincial standard teaching groups; the laboratory of basic medical disciplines was named as the provincial sample experimental and teaching center of higher education; 10 courses including Basic Theories of TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine were ranked as the provincial top-quality courses, Traditional Chinese Medicine, histology and embryology as provincial network courses, 30 courses such as Internal Medicine of TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Chinese Pharmacy as school-level excellent courses. The reform was approved by the State Bureau of TCM Administration as a specially-sponsored project, and meanwhile, as one of the key provincial research programs of the “10th 5-year plan” approved by the Education Department of Henan Province.
Due to the reform and innovation of disciplinary system, with large fund investment, a comprehensive improvement of disciplinary construction has been made. In 2008, 3 A-level disciplines including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Chinese Pharmacy, Medicine of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, 2 B-level subjects including Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Analysis of TCM were approved as the 7th batch of key provincial courses; Pedonosology of TCM and Formula Study successfully passed the due acceptance test by the State Bureau of TCM Administration.
C) Large funds invested in major scientific projects to enhance academic influence both at home and abroad
In recent years, with equal attention to teaching and research, through fully exploiting the superiorities of TCM, teams of research innovation were organized to deal with severe infectious diseases, obstinate diseases, as well as the industrialization of Chinese herbal medicine. Joint efforts and key breakthroughs combined, large increase of fund ensured favorable conditions in cultivating advanced academic talents.
Among the total number of 429 research projects, 37 are concerned with the key research projects such as the “10th 5-year plan ” for the key tasks of national science and technology, the “11th 5-year plan” for the supporting program of national science and technology, the international cooperative program of science and technology, and the national foundation program of natural science; 58 key provincial research projects are connected with the supporting program of the new century excellent talents, the provincial key tasks program of science and technology and the provincial program of research innovation fund, with the longitudinal funds totally amounting to￥65 700 000 RMB; 48 awards are from the programs of Science and Technology Progress of Henan Province, of All-China Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, and of the Association of Integrated Medicine of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine; 10 awards are in humanities and social sciences.
There are 5405 academic theses published, including 1194 articles in core journals, 43 were collected in SCI、EI、ISTP,66 in MEDLINE, 611 in CSCD; 181 academic books (including translated books), 169 unified teaching courses, 12 jointly-compiled books were published; 41 patents were obtained.
The advancement of academic level has expanded its reputation and influence to such an extent that 14 staff members hold the posts of executive directors in the first-level national academic associations, 3 chairpersons and 18 vice chairpersons in the second-level academic associations, 13 chairpersons in the provincial academic associations. Comprehensive external technological cooperation and academic exchanges are flourishing, successively with Harvard Medicinal School, Yale Medical School, Pharmaceutical Department of Kanazawa University, Hamamatsu Medical University and State Infection Syndrome Research Institute in Japan, as well as Taegu Korean Medicine University and other overseas institutes of education and medicine research centers. Due to the contribution to the transmission of TCM culture, the eminent achievements in academic innovation and external cooperation, in 2006, HUTCM was entitled “the eminent academic collectives in scientific management of TCM” by the State Bureau of TCM Administration; and in 2007, was approved as one of the first 4 TCM colleges and universities entitled the “bases of international science and technology cooperation”, one of the two bases in Henan province.
D) Giving full play to the disciplinary advantages to enhance the irreplaceable function to serve the social and economical development of the whole province
In meeting the needs of people’s health as well as the social and economical development, HUTCM takes full advantages of its TCM disciplines to expand the range and ability of services in dealing with diseases such as severe infection, knotty sundry illnesses that threatens human health. Among the 3 affiliated hospitals, the First Affiliated Hospital was granted such titles as one of the “National Top 100 Hospitals ”, the “National Model TCM Hospitals” , the “A-level Third Grade Hospitals of TCM”, the “National Clinical Research Centers of TCM”, the “Bases of Clinical Experiment of National TCM”, the “Bases of Improvement in National Pharmaceutical Preparations and Formulations ”, and the “Bases of International TCM Cooperation subordinated to the SATCM”; the Second Affiliated Hospital (Henan Provincial TCM Hospital) was granted titles as one of the “A-level Third Grade Hospitals of TCM”, the “Clinical Bases of Chinese Traditional and Western Medicine Approved by SATCM”, and the “First Provincial Diagnosis and Treatment Center of TCM”; the Third Affiliated Hospital is famous and competent in acupuncture moxibustion and “Tuina” medicine in treating and curing rachiopathy, miscellaneous diseases in traditional Chinese medicine.
There are altogether 1 780 Medical beds in these 3 hospitals which can yearly receive over 1 500 000 patients, including over 30 000 in-patients. Also there are 12 specialized wards approved by SATCM, which especially enjoy eminent reputation in TCM treatment of AIDS, COPD, gerontal diseases, cardio-cerebrovascular disease, pediatric diseases, peripheral vascular disease and anorectal diseases, with AIDS and COPD as the 2 key programs of the approved National TCM Clinical Bases.
Positively adapting itself to the adjustment of industrial structure and the need of social and economical development, HUTCM enhanced the systematic research and exploitation of Chinese medicinal materials, especially the 4 famous authentic “Huai” medical herbs mainly produced in the north part of Henan province. 14 bases of sample plantation have been set up in cooperation with local governments and businesses, being responsible for the technical guidance of more than 30 (about 700 000 mu) bases in the whole province; the university has contributed a lot to the readjustment of rural economy structure. 302 TCM drug preparations were developed, 21 sci-tech achievements were jointly exploited and transferred. So far, the university has solved 82 technical problems for Furen, Lingrui, Tianfang, Wanxi, Zhongsheng, and other provincial large pharmaceutical enterprises, such achievements have successfully promoted the university to be an important sci-tech innovation base, mainly focusing on the plantation and processing of Chinese medicinal materials, contributing a lot to the industrialization and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine production.
E）Emphasizing the quality of talent training to promote students integrated competence
With “Virtue, Erudition, Inheritance, Innovation” as its school motto, and “cultivating virtues and training characters to produce TCM talents integrated with both morality and abilities” as the educational ideology, large mumber of excellent students have been cultivated and sent to society, the social influence of the university has been increasingly expanded.
HUTCM recruits foreign students and students from 29 provincial areas, also students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; currently the total population of enrolled campus students has amounted to 11 000. Since 1979, the university has enrolled over 2 122 master postgraduates of 28 grades, 1 354 MA degrees were granted including 185 with equivalent education level; and currently there 929 in-school postgraduates. In 1992, the university was approved by the Education Committee of Henan Province to recruit overseas students and students for further study; in 1994, approved by the Ministry of Education to be one of the first 200 colleges and institutes to recruit overseas students as well as students from such areas as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and today there are 236 on-campus overseas students including both master and doctor undergraduates. Since 1997, through joint recruiting and cultivating programs by 8 disciplines or specialties mainly including Traditional Chinese Medicine, Internal Medicine of TCM, the university has cultivated 62 doctorate students of 12 grades. Recent 5 years witnessed the continuous high rate of graduate employment and postgraduate enrollment (up to35%) among graduating students. A booming academic atmosphere led to fruitful achievements, including 8 provincial top excellent graduation theses, 70 scholarship winners in the programs of “Seeking Truth” Postgraduates Scholarship and “Zhang Zhongjing Postgraduates Supporting Project”. Efforts and achievements were affirmed by the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee and Education Committee of Henan Province; and in 2003 and 2006, the university was entitled twice as the “Advanced Unit for Achievements in Academic Degree and Postgraduate Education”.
Students’ competence in academic innovation has been greatly improved: there are 7 patents applied for; from 2005 to 2008, there are altogether 207 on-campus winners in the “Challenge Cup” competition of Henan province for the Extracurricular Academic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Plan, including 2 special awards, 8 first prizes; meanwhile, 46 of the winners further became national “Challenge Cup” winners in the Nationwide Extracurricular Academic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Plan Competition, with 1 first prize, 2 second prizes and 7 third prizes. In the national “Challenge Cup” competition of 2007, the total score of the competitors from HUTCM amounted to NO.1 (equal with Guangzhou Chinese Medicine University); till now, the university has continuously won 4 times provincial and twice national prizes for Excellent Organization Work
In recent years, a large umber of graduates from HUTCM enjoyed honors for their achievements, such as Wang Yishuo, being entitled as one of the “Nationwide Models of Morality” and the yearly “Top 10 College Students” in 2006; Bai Yunping, as one of the national “Self-esteem Stars among College Students”… These excellent graduates, as an advanced collective, fully exemplify the fruitful achievements of HUTCM, always moving natives in Henan province, enjoying reputation throughout the nation.
