A conceptual framework for constructing an innovative teaching module for traditional chinese medicine inheritance in a collaborative "flagship" hospital integrating chinese and western medicine based on the "huisheng intelligent education" metaverse platform

The construction of collaborative “Flagship” hospitals integrating Chinese and Western medicine has placed higher demands on talent cultivation in integrated medicine, inheritance of the experience of renowned veteran TCM experts, innovation in collaborative diagnostic and therapeutic models, and information-based support. As one of the first batch of national pilot institutions for collaborative “Flagship” hospitals integrating Chinese and Western medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, has already established a full-cycle framework spanning undergraduate medical education, postgraduate medical education, and continuing medical education based on the “Huisheng Intelligent Education” metaverse platform. On this basis, an innovative teaching module for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) inheritance is proposed to address the current gap whereby the existing platform primarily serves modern medical education and provides insufficient support for Western medicine physicians receiving TCM training and senior TCM physicians in the cultivation of TCM inheritance and innovation as well as collaborative Chinese-Western medicine competencies. Relying on the four existing platform foundations—namely the metaverse medical knowledge ecosystem, metaverse virtual teaching scenarios, comprehensive teaching intelligent agents, and the full-cycle teaching management hub—the module is designed around four core components: a metaverse teaching module for renowned veteran TCM experts’ studios, a virtual outpatient module for collaborative Chinese-Western medicine practice, a collaborative ward-round/MDT module integrating Chinese and Western medicine, and a TCM appropriate techniques and situational training module. Together, these form a continuous teaching chain of “inheritance resource accumulation—outpatient collaborative training—complex case collaborative decision-making—application of appropriate techniques.” Furthermore, taking the metaverse teaching module for the studio of Shanghai Famous TCM Expert CAI Dingfang as an example, this paper illustrates the specific design for knowledge resource integration, reconstruction of teaching scenarios, intelligent-agent support, and process-based management and evaluation. This module is expected to provide a new practical pathway for the digital transformation of TCM inheritance and innovative collaborative training models in the context of collaborative “Flagship” hospitals integrating Chinese and Western medicine.

Key Words: huisheng intelligent education; metaverse; collaborative “Flagship” hospital integrating Chinese and western medicine; TCM inheritance and innovation; teaching module