Frantisek Musil, a Czech doctor who helps spread TCM to the world

The Center also provides a platform for medical exchanges between doctors from both countries. Dr. Musil, who used to be an internal medicine specialist specialized in nephrology, has a strong interest in TCM. He spent his spare time studying Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture in Prague. He is now learning from Chinese physicians at the Center. Currently, the Czech staff include doctors, nurses and interpreters. He said proudly, “All staff know a lot about TCM. For example, our Czech nurses are able to do cupping by themselves. And our interpreters are able to translate from Chinese to Czech and from Czech to Chinese, specializing in TCM terminology.”

(Dr. Musil and Guan Xin, chief Chinese physician at the China-Czech TCM Center)

When it comes to the patients, what Dr. Musil said next was a delightful surprise to the journalist. “Many patients are interested in TCM, and they know about acupuncture and herbal medicine. One third of them are local residents of Hradec Kralove, and two thirds are from all over the Czech Republic. They mainly come with some painful condition, like lower back pain, pain in joints or migraines, but they also come with a variety of diseases, for example, dyspepsia and rheumatological diseases and some programs like how to get pregnant.”

With a history of less than three years, the TCM Center has received more than 20,000 patients, establishing a good reputation in the Czech Republic. This has made Dr. Musil and his colleagues very happy. “We have more than 80 percent satisfied patients, which is a very high percentage, because the normal average percentage of satisfied patients is half and half, 50 percent. As I said, in our TCM center, the average percentage of satisfied patients is more than 80 percent, which means a very big success.”

In Musil’s view, TCM is well established in Western countries. He told the reporter with humor,“The Czech people are very wise and know how to choose effective treatment.”

Although TCM in the Czech Republic still faces many challenges, such as industry standardization, registration of TCM practitioners, TCM’s market access and inclusion into the country’s universal health care, “TCM is very helpful for our patients,” said Dr. Musil sincerely.