The annual general meeting (AGM) of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture UK (ATCM) was held at Westminster University on the 14th of October 2012. About 200 members attended the meeting. The Director of Quality and Policy from the Health Care Professional Council (HCPC), Mr. Michael Guthrie, the chair of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioner Association (EHTPA), Mr. Michael McIntyre, and the chief executive of British Acupuncture Council, Mr. Nick Pahl also attended the meeting.
The morning session was chaired by the vice president of ATCM, Dr. Kaicun Zhao. ATCM president, Dr. Huijun Shen, presented the annual working report on behalf the 11th ATCM council. Mr. Michael Guthrie informed the members about the development of the statutory regulation of herbal medicine professions and introduced the role and functions of HCPC. Mr. Guthrie also explained the Grandparenting rules and the issues related to requirement of English levels. His talk was well received by the members. Mr. Michael McIntyre and Mr. Nick Pahl also gave a brief speech on the meeting and emphasized the importance of the co-operations between the professional bodies. ATCM general secretary, Dr. Yu Han presented the 2012 ATCM financial report. ATCM have continually maintained in a financially very good condition.
This year, the current 11th ATCM council has reached to the term end. On the AGM, election for a new ATCM council has been carried out. There were 10 recommended candidate and 1 independent candidates standing for the election. All candidates gave a brief talk to the meeting about their opinions on running the organization. Members attending the meeting voted on the site and others voted by post. . There were total 714 ballots issued and 318 returned in valid. On the meeting, an independent election committee was formed with 5 ATCM members. Dr. Julei Zhou announced the election result on behalf the election committee. The first 9 candidates with more votes were elected into the new council. They are:
Kaicun Zhao (270 votes); Huijun Shen (263 votes); ; Fanyi Meng (256 votes); Mingzhao Cheng (247 votes); Yu Han (238 votes); Liqin Zhao (226 votes); Shulan Tang (224 votes); Andreas Feyler (218 votes); Tiejun Tang (200 votes).
In the afternoon, the academic session included 2 presentations. Professor T. C. Li is a specialist in reproductive medicine and surgery from Sheffield University. He introduced the current development in “Assisted Conception Therapy – The latest IVF protocols and commonly used drugs”. Following this, Dr. Liqin Zhao gave a talk on the treatment of infertilities by using Chinese herbal medicines and acupuncture and the role of TCM as a complementary treatment in helping IVF therapy. The 2 reports attracted a lot interests from the members.
On the AGM meeting, the president of ATCM, Dr. Huijun Shen presented the certificates and prize bonus to the winners of the 2012 ATCM Prize for Excellence in TCM Studies (PETS).
Speakers’ Presentations to Download: