There is a somewhat schizoid view of the value of language learning to the practice and transmission of Chinese medicine. On the one hand, it is thought that learning Chinese medical Chinese resolves problems of transmission because Chinese-reading students are aware of nuance and polysemy in Chinese medical language and have access to Chinese clinical literature. On the other hand, Chinese medical Chinese is considered insufficiently important or too difficult to teach in most schools. Having access to Chinese clinical literature is thought important but not so important as learning the western medical topics that are in fact taught in schools. Nuance is supposedly revealed by learning Chinese but the nuance of metaphoric content is not thought important enough to preserve in translation if it means choosing less familiar words.

In “Learning Chinese: Feasibility, Desirability, and Resistance” Wiseman provides an integrated view of this topic.