Women's rising role in traditional Tibetan medicine

Due to government support and the fast development of Tibetan medicine, females are gradually breaking male dominance.

Women make up half of the physicians at the Tibetan Hospital in Lhasa, capital of Tibet. Of the graduates of Qinghai University's School of Tibetan Medicine each year, half are female, according to Tencho with Qinghai University.

Now, both men and women can learn Tibetan medicine in colleges in Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu and Sichuan, according to Dorje with Qinghai Provincial Hospital of Tibetan Medicine.

"Women are more patient and careful in manufacturing process such as making pills, pulverizing and quality control," said Tashi Tso. "Of the 51 medical staff at my department, 26 are female."

Tashi Tso was among the first batch of students enrolled in the Tibetan medicine school of Qinghai University in 2011.

"Not only did we learn the basic theories of Tibetan medicine and distinguish medical materials in the mountains with our teachers, but we also received lessons on Western medicine, including anatomy," she said.

Tibetan medicine pharmaceuticals have introduced a lot of modern equipment now, and Tibetan medicine has developed to be interdisciplinary, she added.

"It is meritorious that the medicine can help more people in the future," said a female doctor at the same hospital as Tashi Tso.