Traditional Medicine Doctor Licensing Exam cheat sheet

Modern Medical Sciences and Integrated Patient Safety

• Vital signs thresholds: adult respiratory rate above 20 or below 12, systolic BP below 90, and heart rate above 100 warrant clinical review.

• Red flags requiring urgent referral: chest pain, sudden weakness or facial droop, severe headache, dyspnea, and unrelieved severe abdominal pain.

• Herb-drug interactions: warfarin with danggui, dan shen, or ginkgo increases bleeding risk; monitor INR and counsel patients.

• Herb safety: aristolochic acid (guang fang ji, mu tong) is nephrotoxic and carcinogenic; aconite (fuzi) toxicity causes arrhythmia and numbness.

• Liver injury: herbal hepatotoxicity is possible with high-dose or adulterated products; check liver enzymes when symptoms appear.

• Pregnancy safety: avoid known teratogenic or abortifacient herbs such as hong hua, e zhu, and she xiang; use caution with strong blood-invigorating herbs.

• Integrated care: reconcile all medications and supplements, check blood pressure and glucose, and document both Western and Chinese diagnoses.

• Patient safety: single-use needles, sharps disposal, hand hygiene, and allergy checks before prescribing or needling are standard requirements.