Objective

2

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the status quo and the future research focuses of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) higher education to provide reference for relevant research based on a review of development trends and frontiers from 2012 to 2022.

Methods

2

CiteSpace 6.1 was used to visually analyze the authors

affiliations

and keywords of 503 Chinese journal articles about TCM higher education published from 2012 to 2022.

Results

2

The publication peaked in 2017. In terms of authors

SHI Yafei and GUO Hongwei contributed the largest numbers of papers. In terms of affiliations

Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine published more articles than others

followed by Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. In terms of keywords

eight keyword clusters were generated. The frequency and central value were high of such keywords as "TCM"

"talent cultivation"

and "higher education"

which corresponded to the research focuses from 2012 to 2022. "Reform" and "apprenticeship" had among the eight keywords the longest duration of bursts and strongest citation bursts respectively. The research trend between 2020 and 2022 was identified as "adhering to the right path and innovating" .

Conclusion

2

Adapting to educational reform and internationalization

TCM higher education should adhere to the right path and innovate

and cultivate outstanding TCM talents who meet the diversified needs of the society by means of integrating apprenticeship with formal education.