Traditional Medicine Doctor Licensing Exam key terms

The paired principle that all phenomena contain two opposing but interdependent aspects, such as cold and heat or rest and activity. Health reflects their balance; disease reflects imbalance, and treatment aims to restore relative harmony.

A framework mapping phenomena to Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water and to their generating and controlling relationships. Clinicians use it to relate organ systems, explain disease transmission, and guide point or herb selection.

The fundamental vital substance and functional activity underlying all life processes. It moves, transforms, warms, holds, and defends; deficiency, stagnation, or rebellion of qi produces characteristic clinical pictures treated by tonifying, moving, or redirecting it.

A yin vital substance that nourishes and moistens the body and anchors the mind. It is produced from food essence and qi and circulates with qi; deficiency causes pallor, dryness, palpitations, and scanty menses.

The internal organ system divided into five yin zang (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney) that store essence, and six yang fu (gallbladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder, triple burner) that transmit and transform.

The channel network through which qi and blood circulate and which links surface to interior. Twelve primary meridians connect with zang-fu organs; eight extraordinary vessels and collaterals supplement them, providing the anatomical basis for acupuncture.

The diagnostic reasoning process that organizes signs and symptoms into a named pattern specifying location and nature, such as liver qi stagnation or spleen qi deficiency, which then determines treatment principle, formula, and points.

A diagnostic grid classifying patterns by interior or exterior, cold or heat, deficiency or excess, and yin or yang. It gives a first-level orientation before finer organ and pathogen differentiation.

Inspection of tongue body color, shape, moisture, and coating to assess qi, blood, fluids, and pathogen nature. A pale tongue suggests deficiency, a red tongue heat, and a thick greasy coating dampness or food accumulation.

Palpation of the radial artery at three positions and three depths on each wrist to assess pulse qualities such as floating, deep, wiry, slippery, or rapid, which indicate pathogen location and organ state.

The structured clinical encounter comprising observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation. Each contributes findings that are combined, never used alone, before a pattern is named.

The pharmacological properties used to describe herbs: cold, hot, warm, or cool nature, and pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, or salty taste. These predict which patterns an herb treats and where it acts.

The deliberate pairing of herbs so that a chief herb treats the main pattern while deputies, assistants, and envoys support, moderate, or direct the action, reducing toxicity and enhancing effect.

Potent or poisonous substances requiring preparation such as soaking, honey-frying, or prolonged boiling to reduce toxicity and modify action. Dosing limits, contraindications, and dispensing controls are legally enforced.

A classical list of herb pairs believed to produce adverse effects when combined, used as a prescribing caution. Modern practice treats it as a safety heuristic alongside documented pharmacology rather than absolute proof.

A traditional list of herb pairs whose combined action is considered to weaken efficacy or increase toxicity. It guides avoidance in formula construction and is tested alongside the Eighteen Incompatibilities.

A fixed multi-herb prescription originating in historical texts, with defined composition, preparation, and indications. Modifications are permitted but must preserve the formula's structural logic and treatment principle.

The concise therapeutic directive derived from a pattern, such as clearing heat and draining dampness. It determines which formula, herbs, and acupuncture points are selected and how response is judged.

The characteristic needling sensation of soreness, numbness, heaviness, or distension felt by the patient and grasped by the practitioner. Its arrival is traditionally taken as a sign that the point has been activated.

Classification of points by function and location, including transport (shu), front-mu, back-shu, yuan-source, luo-connecting, xi-cleft, and eight meeting points. Category membership guides point selection beyond local needling.

Therapeutic burning of prepared mugwort near or on points to warm meridians, dispel cold, and support yang. It is favored for cold-deficiency patterns and contraindicated in excess heat or over sensitive areas.

Prevention and management of acupuncture risks including fainting, bleeding, infection, retained needles, and pneumothorax from deep thoracic needling. Sterile single-use needles, correct depth and angle, and informed consent are required.

A pattern in which qi fails to move smoothly, producing distension, moving pain, sighing, and emotional irritability. It often affects the liver and can transform into heat or lead to blood stasis.

Pathogenic accumulations of turbid fluids causing heaviness, foggy thinking, greasy tongue coating, and slippery pulse. Dampness is fluid-like and lingering; phlegm is thicker and may obstruct channels or the mind.

The legal and ethical duty to explain diagnosis, proposed treatment, alternatives, and material risks in understandable terms and to obtain voluntary agreement before proceeding, documented in the record.

The legally defined boundaries of what a licensed practitioner may diagnose, treat, prescribe, or perform. Exceeding them, such as practicing beyond training or jurisdiction, exposes the clinician to discipline and liability.

The professional obligation to maintain accurate, contemporaneous clinical records and to protect patient information from unauthorized disclosure, subject to legal exceptions such as serious risk to others.

Altered drug effect or toxicity arising when herbs and conventional medicines are taken together, for example anticoagulant potentiation by blood-moving herbs or enzyme induction by certain preparations. Screening and monitoring are essential.

The systematic documentation and reporting of harms suspected to arise from treatment, including needling injuries and herbal reactions, to support pharmacovigilance, patient safety, and regulatory review.

Combining traditional reasoning with the best available clinical research, patient values, and safety data when making decisions, while recognizing where evidence is limited and communicating uncertainty honestly.

A painful obstruction pattern of joints and muscles caused by wind, cold, dampness, or heat with underlying deficiency. It presents as aching, stiffness, or swelling and is treated by dispelling pathogens and supporting qi and blood.

Soft-tissue and bony injury producing local swelling, fixed stabbing pain, and discoloration attributed to static blood. Early management prioritizes reduction of swelling and bleeding, later invigorating blood and consolidating union.

Diagnosis and management of skin and surface lesions using inspection of color, discharge, and border, combined with internal pattern treatment and topical agents such as plasters, washes, and ointments.

The process of excluding serious biomedical conditions, such as infection, malignancy, or cardiac disease, that can mimic benign patterns, determining when referral or emergency care is required.

Objective measurements and warning findings, including fever, unstable blood pressure, neurological deficit, or unexplained weight loss, that mandate urgent assessment rather than routine traditional treatment.

Improvement arising from expectation, attention, and treatment ritual rather than specific mechanisms. Clinicians must interpret trial results and their own outcomes with this in mind and avoid overstating specific efficacy.

Ethical limits that prevent exploitation of the practitioner-patient power imbalance, including avoiding romantic involvement, financial conflicts, and treating close relatives without safeguards.