Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) announced the advisory committee that will help establish British Columbia’s first public school of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Dr. Tru Freeman, Dean of the university’s Faculty of Health, made the announcement in advance of the TCM program advisory committee’s (PAC) first meeting. 

“Kwantlen Polytechnic University has assembled an exceptional team of TCM experts from health, business and education. These are leaders who bring local and international understanding and experience to the TCM industry in B.C., and who will bring that same knowledge and expertise to the first public school of traditional Chinese medicine in the province, and one of the first in the country,” said Dr. Freeman.

“Those advising the program are current practitioners and educators, many of whom were instrumental in developing British Columbia’s TCM industry,” said KPU President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Alan Davis.

PAC chair Dr. Weidong Yu, founder of the Vancouver-based Wellspring TCM Technology Institute, will lead the group of doctors, industry practitioners, business leaders and KPU representatives. KPU’s Faculty of Health will offer a first year of Health Foundational (HF) programming in the fall of 2015, with an expected start date for the TCM curriculum in the fall of 2016.

“Traditional Chinese medicine is growing in popularity,” said Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk. “The new School of TCM at Kwantlen Polytechnic University will offer British Columbians additional options in complementary healthcare where east meets west and new meets old.”