In spite of the popularity of TCM among Chinese, western medicine also plays an important role because of its quick effect and convenience. Commonly, most hospitals in China provide both TCM and western treatments, and doctors usually make a prescription according to origination and development of a disease. 

 

Modern TCM can be classified to be Basic TCM and Clinical TCM.

The Basic TCM contains Basic Theories of Chinese Medicine, Diagnostics of Chinese Medicine, Science of Chinese Pharmacology, Formulas of Chinese Medicine, Internal Canon of Medicine, Treatise on Febrile Diseases, History of Chinese Medicine, Doctrines of Various Historical Schools, etc.

The Clinical TCM includes Internal Medicine of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Surgery of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Gynaecologic Traditional Chinese Medicine, Paediatrics of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Acupuncture, Chinese Orthopedics and Traumatology, Chinese Massage, Chinese Ophthalmology, Chinese Otolaryngology, Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine, Chinese Qigong (breathing technique), TCM Nursing Care, etc.

In China, it is commonly believed that TCM cures diseases while western medicine cures symptoms, as TCM stresses on treating a body as a relative whole and keeping a body in balance, that is why Chinese pay much attention to cultivate health in daily life. Another season why Chinese still choose this traditional science is that all TCM medicinal materials are made of plants and animals, which are entirely natural without chemical composition and are considered to generate much less side-effect to human body.