Terminology standardization in Chinese medicine: The perspective from UCLA Center for East-West Medicine (I)

• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-007-0064-2
• Publication Date: 2007-04-05T04:16:18Z
• Authors: Ka-Kit Hui; Sonya Pritzker
• Keywords: Center (category theory)

Because we recognize the clinical, educational, and cultural importance of translation and terminology in Chinese medicine, we feel that it is imperative to understand the perspectives of all concerned parties. also received attention from the China-based World This article thus addresses the issue of terminology standardization in English language Chinese medical publications from the point of view of multiple stakeholders in this field at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine. A great deal of discussion about the issue has arisen among faculty and staff at the Center, prompted especially by my invitation by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Western Pacifi c Region to review the draft document of English terminology standards in Chinese medicine. As the discussion within the Center refl ects the wider debates within the fi eld, we would like to address the topic by inviting seven Center staff and faculty, all of whom have been trained as clinicians and teachers rather than translators or linguistic scholars, to formally provide their insights into the matter. Sonya Pritzker, M.S., M.A., L.Ac.2 will first offer a brief background derived from her presentation at the original Grand Rounds at the Center upon which the current article is based. Staff and faculty from the Center then offer their contributions to the discussion, after which I discuss participants' views and conclude by suggesting that a biomedical interface system (Brand 2006) in combination with a system of open standards (Felt 2006) offers a possible solution to the several divergent views brought up by the terminology debates.