For the purpose of deducing efficient teaching program for the undergraduates of the Korean medicine college(KMC), details on the concept, goal, method, format and contents of integration are proposed for sharing consensus among members of instructors and students in KMC. The reorganization of the curriculum of KMC should be designed to reflect the trend of changes of the times that encompass scientific and convergent research on the micro and macro world. From the instructor's perspective, the task and aim of integrative curriculum is to explain the position and function of a theory or conceptual word that needs to be integrated among participating subjects, to clarify the reason and meaning used in other chapters or subjects, to explain the scientific mechanism and reinterprete them into Korean medicine theories counterwise, and so to establish specific correlation between the two. Focusing on learners, main curricular contents should be integrated effectively and consistently to be able to understand the human body's structure, function, disease, pattern diagnostics and therapeutics. And then the learners reversely have to be able to develop holistic insights and capabilities from the curriculum along the era of rapid medical technology. To carry out in action conclusively, discussion and agreement on the insightful guideline and effective implementation method of integrative education among members of instructors, learners and authorities are needed first.

In this study, I investigate, compare, and analyze the current status of Korean medicine physiology practice education operated by 12 Korean medicine colleges in Korea. I would like to suggest the direction of Korean medicine physiology practice education based on the data analysis results. I conducted a study by receiving data on practical education from the physiology departments of 12 Korean medicine colleges, and classified them based on the type of subject, class time, and learning contents. Korean medicine physiology practice was organized in the second year of premedical course and the first year of regular course like the physiology lectures. The class hours of Korean medicine physiology practice at each school were almost similar. Six schools conducted practical training as an individual subject, and six schools operated practical training as an integrated subject with physiology theory classes. There were significant differences in the learning contents of the 12 schools: 7 schools focused on Korean medicine practice, and 4 schools covered both Korean medicine and biomedical practice. In the future, it is necessary to develop and standardize diverse practice contents in Korean medicine physiology practice education. In addition, it will be necessary to produce practice textbooks for Korean medicine and develop evaluation tools. There is also a need to discuss the integration of practice as an integrated subject.

This study was conducted to search solutions to enhance the blood stasis diagnosis pattern differentiation program and improve the quality of Korean Medicine practice training courses by investigating student's satisfaction using the web version blood stasis diagnosis program which is based on the previously developed blood stasis diagnosis questionnaire and adding criteria for choosing scales and pictures for additional information. During training courses for diagnosing blood stasis, students performed roles of being a doctor and a patient alternately by using the blood stasis diagnosis program as an educational material. Afterwards, students were to answer 11 questions in a Likert 5 scale questionnaire and a short-answer question to investigate the satisfaction of the blood stasis diagnosis program. The average value of 11 questions from the Likert 5 scale questionnaire resulted in a high level of 4.63. The highest ranking questions were questions asking 1) if the blood stasis diagnosis program is appropriate as an educational tool and 2) if the training course was satisfying using the blood stasis diagnosis program. Short-answer questions showed 78.9% positive feedback. Negative opinions such as the complexity of the questionnaire items and the need of additional criteria and visual material were included. The majority of students participating in the survey showed high satisfaction in the diagnosis practice training using the blood stasis diagnosis program. Based on the study, the blood stasis diagnosis program shows sufficient value for practical use if the program UI is improved and certain material is added.

Six-qi theory is an important concept in Korean medicine. Traditionally, Six-qi theory has been used pathologically. However, it could be more valuable when applied from a physiological perspective. The external Six-qi theory is an analysis of the external environment such as the climate, but the internal Six-qi theory is an analysis of the internal environment of the human body. The internal environment of the human body is considered to be the condition of extracellular fluid (ECF). The internal Six-qi can be understood by the condition of extracellular fluid. In particular, among the internal Six-qi, cold-heat and dry-dampness are well reflected in the condition of extracellular fluid. In addition, analyzing the condition of the internal Six-qi through medical inquiry would be helpful in more practical clinical treatment. A questionnaire about cold and heat could determine the intensity of the body's metabolism, and a questionnaire about dryness and moisture could determine the level of body fluids in the body.

This study aims to identify the background and characteristics of Hyungok(Yoon Gil-Young, 1911-1987)'s 'Oriental Physiology' by analyzing the formation of his knowledge system through his papers and books. The background of the knowledge system that synthesized his writings on 'Oriental Physiology' and 'Oriental Pathology' into 'Dongeuihak Methodology' was identified. his writings on 'Basic course-Clinical course Cooperation in medical education' and 'Korean-Western medicine Cooperation in clinic' shed light on the characteristics of Korean medicine in contrast to Western medicine. By quantitatively analyzing the concepts of 'BonHan', 'BonYul', and 'BonHeo' presented in Hyungok's last book 'Dongeui Clinical Pharmacology', using a quantitative method, we examined the characteristics and meaning of Hyungok's clinic based theoretical system. This study confirms the importance of 'Traditional Korean Medical Physiology' as a fundamental course in the Korean Medicine curriculum and reevaluates Hyungok's theoretical system in relation to drug treatment.

Due to recent changes in Korean medicine education and the medical environment, emphasis is being placed on integrated curricular understanding of western medical theory. Concerning to inflammation accounting for the majority of diseases, the corresponding concepts and specific details as an interface between the two were compared for a comprehensive basic and clinical understanding in Korean medicine, and then explored the logical procedures required for the verification method through experimental research. The up-to-date concept of acute inflammation is defined by a spectrum of biological responses and processes against external disturbances and the resulting state. The response is the initial phase of struggle between the vital energy and the pathogenic factor(SVP), the process is a specific pathogenesis, and the state can be corresponded to a specific type of symptom set. Also, the contents of inflammation as physiological homeostasis control only a quantitative difference can be regarded with the constitutional theory and differential diagnostics and therapeutic theory(DDT). Summing up the above, the viewpoint of the homeostasis maintenance mechanism and the logic of inflammation theory against SVP & DDT theory were same. So, variables and indicator molecules in the homeostatic and inflammatory control mechanisms for each cell or tissue can be used in the experimental and clinical research of Korean medicine. And then the general hypotheses of Korean medicine theory induced or abducted from research hypotheses of an experiment can be obtained.

Throughout history, Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) has accumulated diverse theories and extensive knowledge from different medical scholars and schools of thought. While numerous qualitative studies have explored the unique theoretical and prescriptive characteristics of each scholar and school of thought, quantitative research with complementary roles remains limited. This study seeks to explore the potential of geometric data structure analysis as a novel quantitative method to enhance understanding of the basic theories of TAM. Specifically, by analyzing the prescriptions of the four noted scholars of Geum-Won era, we evaluated the similarity of representation of herbs and analyzed the topological properties of prescription networks. Our results suggest that there are both subspaces that are significantly shared among scholars and unique subspaces that are not aligned by linear transformation. From the constructed prescription networks, we found a pattern of continuous variation among the prescriptions, which generates a specific directional trajectory on the herbal manifold. Furthermore, we can derive specific directions for future research from the analysis results. Our study highlights that the analysis of TAM theories using mathematical methods can contribute to the modernization of the theories and allow the existing theories to be understood from a novel perspective.

Large language models (LLMs) have introduced groundbreaking innovations in various fields, including healthcare, where they augment medical diagnosis, decision-making, and facilitate patient-doctor communication through their exceptional contextual understanding and inferential abilities. In the realm of Korean medicine (KM), the utilization of LLMs is highly anticipated. However, it demands additional training with domain-specific KM data for seamless integration of KM knowledge. There are two predominant strategies for training domain-specific LLMs in the KM domain. The first approach entails direct manipulation of the LLM's internals by either pretraining a base model on an extensive corpus of KM data or fine-tuning a pretrained model's parameters using KM-related question-answering datasets. The second approach avoids internal model manipulation and leverages techniques like prompt engineering, retrieval augmented generation, and cognitive augmentation. Domain-specific LLMs specialized for KM hold the potential for diverse applications, ranging from personalized medical education plans and content generation to knowledge integration, curriculum development, automated student assessment, virtual patient simulations, and advanced research and scholarly activities. These advancements are poised to significantly impact the field of KM and medical education at large.

Awareness of Mibyeong, a key concept in preventive Korean medicine, leads to preventive health care by focusing on clinical symptoms and risk factors that appear before disease, as well as improving health by changing one's circadian rhythm and lifestyle. Parkinson's disease motor symptoms, such as bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity, and postural instability, appear after more than half of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra are lost. Non-motor symptoms such as hyposmia, sleep disturbance, depression, fatigue, and foveal visual impairment, on the other hand, appear from the prodromal stage of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine is secreted in different areas of the brain under circadian control and is known to interact closely with circadian clock genes. The loss of normal dopaminergic rhythm in the midbrain, striatum, retina, and olfactory bulbs has recently been linked to Parkinson's disease non-motor symptoms such as circadian disruption, REM sleep behavior disorder, foveal vision loss, and hyposmia. Furthermore, circadian disruption is linked to several pathological mechanisms of Parkinson's disease, hastening disease progression. There is a growing awareness that early diagnosis and preventive measures of Parkinson's disease should be prioritized. Parkinson's disease must be prevented at the prodromal stage through increased awareness and active preventive treatment.

The object of this study is to identify the effect of acupuncture for torticollis by assessing pain and functional improvement. Studies will be searched from 11 Databases(Cochrane library, EMbase, Pubmed, Citation Information by NII [CiNII], China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], WanFang Data, Koreanstudies Information Service System [KISS] KMbase, ScienceON, KoreaMed and OASIS). We will select participants that diagnosed with torticollis, regardless of cause, gender, age, race and interventions will be acupuncture, electroacupuncture, dry needling, fire needle. Main outcome will be visual analogue scale(VAS) and numeric rating scale(NRS) to assess the degree of pain. The control group will be the torticollis patients who treated by other treatments except interventions. This study will be included randomized controlled trials on acupuncture treatment for torticollis. Data extracted from the above process will follow the Cochrane risk of bias tools and PRISMA flow diagram. The data results of the meta-analysis will be calculated through Cochrane's RevMan 5.4 and extracted values. The pain index and the improvement of cervical function will be analyzed using a standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) as continuous variables. This study is currently registered in PROPERO(ID:CRD42023442199). Through this study, it is expected that the effect of acupuncture on torticollis will be considered, and acupuncture treatment for torticollis patients will be more reliable on this study.

The aim of this study is to confirm the effectiveness of acupotomy for lateral epicondylitis. Various control groups will be analyzed for research. 11 online databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Libray, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI], WanFang, Science ON, Research Information Sharing Service [RISS], KoreaMed, Korean studies Information Service System [KISS], KMBASE, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System [OASIS]) will be searched from 2017 to 2023 May. In our research, Participants will be limited to diagnosed with lateral epicondylitis regardless of cause, gender, age or race. Acupotomy will be included in intervention. Other treatments than Interventions will be control group. Primary outcome will be evaluated by Visual analogue scale (VAS), Numerical Rating scale (NRS), and other elbow joint related function scale. Randomized controlled trials about acupotomy for lateral epicondylitis will be analyzed in this study. Our study will be processed through PRISMA flow chart of study for systematic review and meta-analysis. For the sake of rigorous research Cochrane Risk of bias2 tool planned to use. Using Standardized mean difference, 95% confidence interval the effectiveness of acupotomy for lateral epicondylitis will be observed. Our study will be able to provide a useful result how acupotomy treatment for lateral epicondylitis is valuable in clinical site.

Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench is a medicinal plant from North America, Europe, and Australia that has been traditionally used to treat the common cold, bronchitis, coughs, and inflammation of the pharynx and mouth. Furthermore, extracts of Echinacea purpurea (EP) exert various biological effects, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the possible mechanisms of action of the immune-enhancing effects are yet to be elucidated. Therefore, this study investigated the role of EP extracts in the immune-enhancing effects of RAW264.7 cells and the underlying mechanisms of action. It was found that EP extracts considerably increased the protein expression of iNOS, COX-2, and mPGES-1 in RAW264.7 cells. Also, EP extracts increased NO production, phagocytic activity, and the expression of cytokines. Consistent with these results, phosphorylation of MAPKs (ERK, JNK, and p38) and NF-κB (IKKα/β, IκBα, and NF-κB p65) were induced after treatment with EP extracts. Finally, EP extracts caused a marked increase in activation of the TLR4-TRAF6-TAK1 pathway. These results suggest that the immune-enhancing effects of EP extracts are mediated through the TLR4-associated activation of the NF-κB and MAPK pathways in RAW264.7 cells. Thus, it is suggested that EP extracts could be considered as a potential immunostimulatory agent or functional food.