With the wish to be a doctor who not only cures body symptoms, but also cares about the souls and spirits of her patients, Danijela Meister-Babic, a doctor trained in Western medicine, has stayed in China for five years studying Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Meister-Babic described her lucky chance to learn TCM as a "beautiful possibility". "To be honest, I knew nothing about TCM before I came to China," the Swiss-born Croatian said. "As a doctor, I always believe that the three components of a person- body, soul, spirit -should be combined. However, Western medicine only heals the body section, and people in Europe look for psychologists when they have emotional problems. But what they do need is complete treatments. TCM combines the three (components) well which really appeals to me."

Meister-Babic's opportunity to pursue that interest came when her husband was posted to work at the Swiss embassy in China. The couple arrived in Beijing with their 5-month-old daughter just before the period of SARS in early 2003.

The doctor said she had previously considered China something of a mystery, and had been much impressed by its constant change. "I like Beijing very much, since these five years mean a lot to me in both my private and professional life," Meister-Babic said. "We met so many nice people here and I had my second daughter born in Beijing. No wonder these are precious memories for us."

In her living room, two large replicas of Terracotta Warriors and many other traditional Chinese items are displayed as evidence of her love for her new home. Already fluent in English, German, French, Italian and Croatian, Meister-Babic has also learnt Chinese -- though admits it was tough.

Meister-Babic said the core of TCM is based on the spirit energy, or qi, of the human body. Acupuncture, the most considered representation of TCM, helps to let qi flow more smoothly through channels. Meister-Babic learnt acupuncture as her introduction course to TCM, then went on to study qigong, diagnosis, massage, diet and more.

With the knowledge obtained from her school, Meister-Babic began to diagnose health problems for family and friends. During our interview for this article, she even offered me a simple diagnosis. After feeling my pulse and expertly checking my tongue, she told me that I had an inside heat, and suggested that I drink more water and green tea.

"Western medicine is great, but it only focuses on symptoms and does have side effects. On the other hand, TCM may need more time to heal but it tries to find the cause of the disease, and has no side effects, as it comes from nature. That's why TCM is more and more popular in the world," Meister-Babic said.

She said people in Western countries now better understood TCM. "Another significant advantage of TCM is that it emphasizes prevention of disease and not only treatment, and prevention is no doubt the best way to deal with diseases."

After obtaining a post-graduate degree from Beijing Academy of TCM a year ago, Meister-Babic decided to continue her studies with Xu Wenbing, a famous TCM doctor and educator in Beijing. She followed Xu to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, to collect herbs just like the ancient TCM experts did. "Danijela is a smart student with great enthusiasm and excellent understanding, I really appreciate her," Xu said.

Meister-Babic is planning to apply what she has learned in China to her own career when she goes back to Switzerland. "I may work at a hospital or open my own clinic, and I will combine the advantages of both Western medicine and TCM. Actually it is the best time ever in history, and Western and Eastern people should know more about each other, too," she said.

(China Daily 11/07/2007 page18)