Teaching ginseng in javascript

An online education program in the healing arts could better standardize Traditional Chinese Medicine

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Greater China Technologies wants to take China's ancient healing practice into the digital age.

The company has joined forces with the School of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to offer an online education program on the art of herbs. The program is scheduled to start in September.

Professors at the university are excited about the plan to teach ginseng in javascript. But bundling the ancient practice in new technology is much more than a gimmick.

Ancient art, new standards

Until three years ago, Hong Kong had no degree programs in Traditional Chinese Medicine -- or TCM for short. Now, the study is getting more popular as it takes on a more established status.

"For the last two years, when we started our program, every year we received about a thousand applications competing for 20 student posts in our program. That can tell you how popular it is among students," says School of Medicine professor Chun-Tao Che.

Before, most TCM practitioners learned their trade the old school way. They inherited their knowledge from their parents or studied under a master. As a result, the standards of training have varied widely.

An online education program in the healing arts could potentially narrow the gap in standards among TCM practitioners.

"Bringing TCM education to the students in a very conventional way like classrooms, clinical research, and also on the Internet will actually help traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to get standardized," says Kelly Cheng, Greater China Technologies chief executive.

"Standardization is the key word at this time for the development of TCM in terms of narrowing the gap of the qualification standards, or learning procedures as well as setting up good standards for the medicines," adds Chun-Tao Che.

The education project will be offered on a subscription basis.

Greater China has fronted $130,000 to build and maintain the online courses in English and Chinese. But Cheng says it's only the beginning.

"Our website not only has Chinese and English, but will also have Japanese and Korean. So with this collaboration I hope we can launch this Web site or education system to the rest of the world."

Ginseng shows favorable results in limited diabetes study
Asian economic slump hits ginseng growers

Greater China Herbs
Greater China Technology Group
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.