Zhejiang's first overseas TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) center opened in Israel May 29.

Initiated by Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of TCM and its Israeli counterparts, the center will facilitate cooperative work in clinical treatment, talent training and legislation and allow Israeli patients to be seen by Chinese doctors via an online telemedicine platform and interpreters.

The four diagnostic methods – observation, auscultation-olfaction, interrogation and palpation – can be performed in collaboration with a Chinese doctor, an Israeli doctor, the online platform and an interpreter. Even thousands of kilometers from the patient, the doctor can diagnose and prescribe treatment after an in-depth consultation.

TCM has grown in popularity in Israel since the country began sending students and physicians to study and work in the Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of TCM in early 2008. Israelis are becoming more familiar with TCM thanks in part to the growth of this 10-year exchange program.

Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of TCM and Israeli partners have established goals for the next three-to-five years and plan to build the new TCM center into a healthcare, education and research base.

Doctors at Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of TCM attend to an Israeli patient via an online telemedicine platform on May 29. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]