Academician Jaung-Geng Lin Comes to Tzu Chi University to Teach Students About Acupuncture

“Tzu Chi University’s students are quite different; even though the trip is a little long for me, I am happy to come to Hualien regularly,” said Academician Jaung-Geng Lin. 

When the University’s School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine was founded, it badly needed faculty members to teach acupuncture. With cultivating students of Chinese medicine in mind, Professor Lin decided to join Tzu Chi University’s faculty. 

The University’s students love their faculty members dearly. Upon receiving a card containing many expressions of gratitude from his students on the first Teachers’ Day, after joining the University, Professor Lin felt very touched. The students’ attitude has made him continue to take a long trip from Taichung to Hualien to teach Tzu Chi University’s students.

During the first week of classes, Professor Lin came to Tzu Chi University to teach students about acupuncture. Professor Lin is a Buddhist, and he respects Dharma Master Cheng Yen from his heart. So, he wishes to utilize his expertise and experience to meet Master Cheng Yen’s expectations in integrating Chinese and Western medicine in teaching, clinical work, and research endeavors. 

Tzu Chi University’s students have been nurtured by the University’s faculty members and healthcare professionals, so their thoughts, speech, and behaviors are quite different from the medical students of other universities. Their respect for faculty members inspired Professor Lin to think that nurturing these students is meaningful, thus contributing to his long-term teaching commitment to Tzu Chi University’s students.

Professor Lin is the first Taiwanese Doctor of Philosophy in acupuncture, received the first professorship certificate of Chinese medicine from the Ministry of Education, and became the first academician in Chinese medicine. He sets an excellent example for younger healthcare professionals through his ways of facing everything, interacting with everyone, and conducting teaching and research. 

Professor I-Hsin Lin, Director of the University’s School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, said that Professor Lin served in the Taipei Chinese Medical Association and the National Union of Chinese Medical Doctors’ Association, R.O.C. as a chairperson for many years. He has made significant contributions to acupuncture and initiated numerous fundamental research and clinical applications related to Chinese medicine. 

To provide students the opportunities to learn from a master, the University has invited Professor Lin to be a chair professor since August 2014.

Professor Lin has been engaging in various acupuncture-related research, such as acupuncture empirical medicine, acupuncture analgesia, and the safe needling depth of acupuncture points. 

Nature published his edited work of Experimental Acupuncturology, which focuses on using acupuncture as an alternative treatment. 

His Dictionary of English-TCM Disease Terms is a vital reference for comparing Chinese and Western medicine disease terms. This dictionary has become a big part of the International Classification of Diseases – 11th Edition, published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Professor Lin is well known worldwide as the authority on acupuncture in Taiwan.

Professor Lin’s students are grateful for attending his sessions from the beginning of each new semester. Bao-Qing Lin, a sophomore, said he had learned much from Professor Lin’s lectures and felt very grateful.

Professor Lin shared the secret of his successful career through the “Be Valuable” sessions. He also wrote the results of years of his research in many books, including “Safe Needling Depth of Acupuncture Points,” which has benefited many patients from iatrogenic injury.

Professor Lin is a role model for students of Chinese medicine and inspires many young physicians to practice medicine professionally and altruistically.

Another student An-Qi Zhang said that in Professor Lin’s lectures, she felt fortunate to witness the demeanor of an international scholar, and it was a fantastic experience. In his early years, Professor Lin was a surgeon, and he started exploring the safe needling depth of acupuncture points on corpses and living bodies. He displayed his innovative and inspiring thinking in Chinese medicine when he was a young professional. Students love to learn from him, and his spirit is worthwhile for students to follow. 

From interacting with Professor Lin, students appreciate his outstanding academic achievement, which comes from his consistent and meticulous attitude. 

Our faculty members ask highly of themselves and us. We must also set high goals and learn vigorously from our faculty members, as well. We have gained a lot from Professor Lin’s takes and realized we have a role model to look up to.

Providing high-quality education has been the University’s educational goal. With the support of its board of directors and Tzu Chi members worldwide, the University has been striving to provide a quality learning environment for students to enhance their skills, knowledge, and compassion. 

The University expects to collaborate with more for-profit institutions, NPOs, government agencies, and other educational institutions to provide students with more learning opportunities, prepare them to meet the needs of their career choices, and inspire them to apply what they have learned for attending to those in need.