Chinese Medicine Courses FAQs

The College has introduced these courses to improve the student learning experience and support a greater range of career and employment opportunities. These courses also cater to the evolving needs of the Chinese medicine profession which has developed significantly since the creation of the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA). We have listened carefully to feedback from current and past students to develop these new offerings as well as getting input from various professional groups and subject matter experts. These new offerings not only match other Higher Education providers but provide a leading edge offering for the Chinese Medicine industry.

The College’s new courses were designed to meet DRAFT Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA) standards and submitted to TEQSA in early 2020; we received the official decision of accreditation in early 2021. It was only at that time that we could begin planning the launch of our new courses. Given the planning, course development and student notice period required, we could not transition to the new courses until 2022.

Under TEQSA legislation, the College is not able to provide any information on ‘proposed’ courses until they are accredited. As such, we were not legally able to share information publicly on this proposed course any earlier than we did.

The new Bachelor of Health Science (Acupuncture Therapies)

This qualification achieves comparable outcomes to the current BHSc(Acu) program in terms of the modalities of practice and diagnostic skills (acupuncture, auxillary therapies, tui na, qi gong, topical and patent herbal prescribing, etc.). It has been restructured to achieve improved outcomes for students, through improved integration of the different skills and areas of practice. Other restructuring updates include:

• Student workload management has been improved through introducing a structure with typically four subjects per semester (five in one semester), with 3-4 assessments per subject.
• The spacing of assessments has been carefully considered to help manage workload across the course.
• Practical skills are more concentrated at the start of the course, with increased opportunity for supervised skills practice and progressive development and feedback before using these tools in clinical placements.
• Clinical reasoning, advanced practical skills, and case-based learning methods occur in the later stages of the qualification.

The Clinical Medicine stream has been carefully sequenced so that students study pathologies and conditions within a biomedical framework concurrently to or immediately before studying the Chinese medicine management and approaches of related systems. Other subject updates include:

• Both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) classical texts and contemporary research into TCM practice is embedded throughout the qualification, allowing students to develop familiarity with the full range of TCM literature and integrate this into their practice.
• Social Sciences subjects focus more specifically on the applied skills needed in key areas of the Australian healthcare system, including developing skills in cultural competence and safety, and the application of counselling skills when working with diverse patient needs and circumstances.

Students’ clinical experience begins earlier, initially with foundational tui na practices helping to develop their palpation skills and anatomy knowledge before applying auxiliary therapies (moxa, cupping, gua sha, qi gong, etc.) and other skills that support earlier employment opportunities in roles such as a clinical assistant.

Students then progress into needling-based therapies and patent herbal prescribing skills that are specific to a registered acupuncturist’s scope of practice. Students’ acupuncture clinics begin by observing senior practitioners and working as a clinical assistant under guidance to help build strong practical skills at the start of your clinical training, followed by practicing as a student practitioner with increasing levels of autonomy and expertise.

The Diploma of Health Science (Chinese Remedial Massage) provides students an option to specialise in the application of tui na and auxillary therapies for both musculoskeletal conditions and in the management and support of a wide variety of internal medicine conditions and across the stages of the life cycle. Students can complete this diploma in as little as 1.5 years and offers a pathway to working in the field as a Chinese remedial massage (tui na) practitioner. This qualification meets the needs of students seeking entry to working as a tui na practitioner.

The Bachelor of Health Science (Chinese Medicine) extends students’ knowledge into individualised herbal prescribing and formula modifications using a range of dispensing methods, as well as the manufacturing, dispensing and research into herbal therapies role in contemporary Chinese medicine practice.

The College has designed the structure of the new qualifications to enable previously graduated acupuncture students to pursue further study in Chinese medicine where desired. A graduate of our original BHSc(Acu) will be able to return and complete the BHSc(Chinese Medicine) with an approximate 1.25 years of study (or equivalent part-time study). The College intends to have this pathway available by early 2024.

Normal conditions relating to credit transfers and recognition of prior learning apply, and your personal circumstances can be assessed by our Pathways team. Further information on credit recognition is also available.

The Diploma of Health Science (Chinese Remedial Massage) is recognised by professional associations including:

• Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA)
• Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Society of Australia (CMASA)

Applications are currently pending with additional associations with outcomes expected prior to the launch of this new qualification.

The Bachelor of Health Science (Acupuncture Therapies) has been designed to meet the accreditation requirements of the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA) for the Chinese Medicine Practitioner division of Acupuncturist. As this is a new course, a period of typically two years is required from start of delivery to achieve accreditation with the CMBA. For this reason, students cannot graduate from this new qualification until after the CMBA standard registration process is completed.

Based on recognition of graduates by the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia, graduates would be eligible for membership with the following associations:

• Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA)
• Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS)
• Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Society of Australia (CMASA)
• Federation of Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Societies of Australia (FCMA)

The Bachelor of Health Science (Chinese Medicine) has been designed to meet the accreditation requirements of the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia (CMBA) for the Chinese Medicine Practitioner divisions of Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist, and Chinese Herbal Dispenser. As this is a new course, a period of typically two years is required from start of delivery to achieve accreditation with the CMBA. For this reason, students cannot graduate from this new qualification until after the CMBA standard registration process is completed.

Based on recognition of graduates by the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia, graduates would be eligible for membership with the following associations:

• Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA)
• Australian Traditional Medicine Society (ATMS)
• Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Society of Australia (CMASA)
• Federation of Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Societies of Australia (FCMA)