Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between KPU and BUCM

The Beijing University of Chinese Medicine partners with KPU for continuation of acupuncture

KPU President Alan Davis was photographed in China this month, grinning next to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Xu Anlong, president of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

By being there, Davis officiated a memorandum of understanding between KPU and BUCM—an agreement intended to encourage graduates from his institution’s Traditional Chinese Medicine program to transfer to the Beijing school to achieve their full degree. He called the signing of the memorandum “historical,” and indeed it was; the MOU is the first that BUCM has signed with a North American institution.

KPU’s acupuncture program is the only one of its kind to become a part of an established post-secondary institution in Canada. Because it’s only a two year program, those who crave more from their university career can travel to BUCM and enter into the fourth year of their five-year degree program in traditional Chinese medicine. That way, with only one additional year of schooling and the opportunity to live on another continent, graduates come out with both a diploma and a degree in their field of interest.

“Hopefully, this will generate opportunity for our own graduates, and hopefully there will be University of Beijing graduates who will come to KPU,” says Davis.

KPU Provost and Vice President Academic Sal Ferreras says that the MOU has been in the works for several years, but KPU’s finalized Traditional Chinese Medicine program had to be approved before it could be made official. Now that it has launched, the memorandum is in full effect.

“It’s a great deal for us and a great deal for them. They also have an opportunity to have a presence that is important to them because of their basic mandate, which is to put forth an alternative medical practice,” says Ferreras. “I know that the relationship they’re looking for with KPU is a long-term relationship that will have many dimensions to it.”

While at BUCM, students will learn about the world of Chinese medicine past the niche subject of acupuncture, delving into massage, herbology, dietary therapy, and more. Both theory and practice will be taught during that time, along with diagnoses and treatment.

With their complete credentials from BUCM, students returning to Canada are welcome to register as members of the College of Traditional Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of B.C.—a title which is needed to legally work as a practitioner.

John Yang, instructor of the Traditional Chinese Medicine program’s acupuncture course at KPU, has been working in the profession for nearly 30 years. Other than the new possibilities for his students, he is excited about the MOU because of the prestigiousness of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.

“Of course, the Chinese medicine for this Beijing TCM university is very well-known, famous,” says Yang. “As well, [BUCM] has a full TCM hospital and a large TCM library, so our students—if they choose to go there for their studies—I believe they will learn quite well and gain lots of clinical experience from the hospital study.”

Associate Dean of KPU’s Faculty of Health, Jean Nicolson-Church, believes that transferring to Beijing for school is “a fabulous opportunity” for students to advance in their careers, as well as a boost for KPU’s international image.

“I think that [the MOU] is really exciting for KPU. It really helps our reputation in an international perspective for the Faculty of Health as well,” says Nicolson-Church. “When [students] are going to make a future career in acupuncture or TCM, it will also help to [immerse] them into the culture that they will likely be working with, with clients from China or Chinese culture.”

In regards to student opportunity in China, Yang adds that, “in a big city like Beijing, there are a lot of foreigners working there, and they need someone who is an English-speaking TCM practitioner and acupuncturist to help.”

There are still loose ends in reference to exactly how the curriculum at both KPU and BUCM will coexist and merge, discussions on which will begin “very soon,” according to Nicolson-Church. Some topics expected to be covered include “specific courses, ways to facilitate the partnership, and looking at offering again the options for students.”