Chinese
students who visit American doctors find that the doctors do
not examine their tongues (unless the student has complained
specifically about a problem with the tongue). Nor do American
doctors check for a variety of pulses. Western doctors’ medical
beliefs are quite different from those underlying traditional
Chinese medicine. So what Western doctors do with their patients
is not the same as what traditional Chinese doctors do with
theirs.
Another difference Chinese students
encounter in the United States is in the “health-care delivery system,” that
is, the means by which patients gain access to medical services.
If you are interested in learning more about
Western medicine as compared with Chinese medicine, you could
read Chapter 2
of Between
Heaven and Earth(full information about the
book is in the References),
a book designed to teach Westerners about Chinese medicine.
Aspects of America’s health-care
delivery system with which Chinese students will want to
be familiar include these:
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