China's Top Departments: Preventive Medicine (TCM) at Guangdong Clifford Hospital

If your check-up reports come back "mostly normal" yet you still feel persistently unwell — fatigue, poor sleep, vague aches — you may be in what Chinese medicine calls a "sub-health" state. The Preventive Medicine (TCM) Department (治未病科, "Zhi Wei Bing Ke") at Guangdong Clifford Hospital specializes in exactly this gap between wellness and disease: preventive TCM conditioning, constitution-based wellness, and supportive care while you manage chronic conditions — all on the platform of China's first large general Grade-A Tertiary hospital accredited by JCI and a designated institution under the Greater Bay Area "Hong Kong/Macao Medicine and Device Connect" scheme.

Overview

The Preventive Medicine (TCM) Department (治未病科, "Zhi Wei Bing Ke") is a key part of Guangdong Clifford Hospital's Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) specialty section (listed alongside the Clifford TCM Clinic), and is one of the TCM units listed under "Department Introduction" on the hospital's official website. The department is centred on the TCM concept of "treating disease before it arises" (治未病, "preventive treatment of disease"), with health-status identification, assessment and intervention as its core services, offering patients TCM-based disease prevention, wellness care and constitutional (body-constitution) conditioning.

"Treating disease before it arises" originates from the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic), China's earliest medical classic. Its core philosophy is "prevent before illness, prevent progression once ill, prevent relapse after recovery" (未病先防、既病防变、瘥后防复) — preventing disease before onset, stopping it from progressing when it first appears, and preventing recurrence after recovery. The department translates this ancient philosophy into deliverable modern health services.

For the many people in a "sub-health" state — whose check-up reports show mostly normal indicators yet who experience persistent discomfort — the department offers a TCM check-up: using constitution identification, meridian (channel) testing, body-composition analysis and frailty assessment in combination, it helps visitors identify their own constitution type so they can prevent disease and condition the body. The department applies an integrative Chinese-Western diagnostic approach: through inspection, listening/smelling, inquiry and palpation (the "four diagnostics"), combined with instruments such as a TCM constitution-identification system, TCM meridian detector, arteriosclerosis detector and body-composition analyser, it identifies a person's constitution and condition and, on that basis, offers individualised advice on exercise, diet and conditioning — achieving "regulate before illness" and "treat early once ill".

For Hong Kong, Macao and international patients, the department can draw on the hospital's international JCI-standard management system and its International Medical Department, combining modern medical examinations with TCM conditioning within the same hospital — well suited to cross-border care, sub-health conditioning, chronic-condition management and constitutional wellness needs.

Standing and Accreditations

• Provincial key specialty: According to third-party hospital-information platforms, Clifford Hospital currently has nine provincial-level key specialties (oncology, acupuncture-tuina, cardiovascular medicine, gynaecology, nephrology, endocrinology, spleen-and-stomach medicine, brain disorders [neurology], and the Preventive Medicine [TCM] Department). Another platform lists them as "provincial key specialties: oncology, acupuncture-tuina, cardiovascular internal medicine, gynaecology, nephrology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, Preventive Medicine (TCM) Department, etc." — both listings include the Preventive Medicine Department as a provincial key specialty.
• Hospital-level background (for international readers): The hospital is China's first large general Grade-A Tertiary hospital accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) (integrative Chinese-Western medicine; Hong Kong-invested; founded in 2001 by Professor Peng Linji of Clifford Group). It is a National Good Clinical Practice (GCP) base, a Guangdong provincial teaching hospital for higher medical education, a Guangdong Famous TCM Hospital, a designated institution under the Greater Bay Area "Hong Kong/Macao Medicine and Device Connect" scheme, a Hong Kong "Elderly Health Care Voucher" pilot institution, and China's first private hospital to receive SHARC international accreditation; in January 2026 it became the first private hospital in China to pass international hospital review accreditation.
• Note: as of this update, a standalone official detail page for the Preventive Medicine Department could not be retrieved; the "provincial key specialty" description above comes from third-party hospital-information platforms. This guide states matters factually and cites its sources without exaggeration.

Core Strengths and Features

• TCM check-up (four diagnostics combined with modern testing): The four diagnostics combined with a TCM constitution-identification system, TCM meridian detector, arteriosclerosis detector and body-composition analyser to identify constitution and condition, and to propose individualised advice on exercise, diet and conditioning.
• Nine-constitution identification: TCM classifies people into nine constitutions — balanced, phlegm-damp, damp-heat, yin-deficiency, yang-deficiency, qi-deficiency, special (allergic), qi-stagnation and blood-stasis. The department determines the constitution type and sets a conditioning direction accordingly, based on the China Association of Chinese Medicine's Classification and Determination of TCM Constitutions standard.
• Health-status identification and assessment: Includes TCM constitution identification and assessment of meridians, organ function, qi-and-blood status, and cold-heat/deficiency-excess states, as well as health-status assessment using modern technologies.
• Health-conditioning consultation and health intervention: Issuing "health prescriptions" and drawing up individualised plans for daily-life conditioning, dietary guidance, emotional regulation, wellness exercises, appropriate TCM techniques and herbal conditioning; intervention methods cover herbal decoctions, pastes, pellets, pills, powders and teas, as well as external therapies such as acupuncture, tuina (massage), guasha (scraping), cupping, moxibustion, application/patching and fumigation/washing (steaming).
• A "preventive-treatment service chain": A collaborative mechanism linking the department with various specialties to deliver integrated health assessment, intervention and follow-up management, intervening across the pre-illness, illness and post-illness stages.
• Combined acupuncture-and-herbs, starting from the constitution: The department's physicians specialise in treating illness through a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine, starting from constitutional conditioning; participants in the TCM check-up may also receive four Baduanjin (eight-section brocade) exercise classes (subject to the current promotion).

Expert Team

• Hu Shenglin — Attending physician (主治医师) and Master of Medicine in the Preventive Medicine Department. Council member of the Naturopathy Research Branch of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies; member of the China Acupuncture Association; member of the Hunan Acupuncture Association. Participated in and led one provincial-level research project and has published eight academic papers. Skilled in treating illness through a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine, guiding exercise and diet and starting from constitutional conditioning — e.g. constitutional conditioning, upper-respiratory-tract infection, allergic rhinitis, chronic cough, fatigue syndrome, metabolic syndrome, obesity, gastrointestinal dysfunction, acute and chronic gastroenteritis, sleep disorders, menstrual disorders, leukorrheal disorders, dysmenorrhoea, menopausal syndrome, headache, dizziness, sweating disorders, eczema, allergic dermatitis, pre-conception preparation, postpartum recovery, nodular disease, and pain of the neck, shoulder, lower back and legs. Consultation times: Monday to Wednesday, Thursday afternoon, and Sunday.
• Leng Ting — Named on the official website as an attending physician of the Preventive Medicine Department of Guangdong Clifford Hospital (TCM attending physician). She runs a TCM women's clinic and is a member of the Guangdong Maternal and Child Health Care Association, deputy secretary of the paediatric tuina committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, a member of the Guangdong Acupuncture Association, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Association of Chinese Medicine, a committee member of the Guangdong Provincial Association of Chinese Medicine's paediatric tuina committee, and a national senior medical beautician. She specialises in TCM gynaecological and obstetric conditioning (menstrual disorders, pre-conception conditioning, postpartum TCM care, etc.) and in using fire-needle, cosmetic acupuncture and internal herbal treatment for dull skin, pigmentation, melasma, freckles, sun spots and increased skin wrinkles.
• Note: departmental reviewers include Deng Heng and Bao Danyan; the current roster and consultation schedules are subject to the hospital's official announcements.

Suitable Conditions

The following reflects the department's publicly stated service directions to help readers understand its scope; specific services and on-duty experts are subject to the hospital's official announcements.

The "five groups suitable for a TCM check-up" listed on the official website:

1. Patients with clear subjective discomfort but no abnormality on Western-medicine examinations, or no targeted treatment — e.g. long-term headache, fatigue or general malaise despite normal check-ups.
2. People with no clear subjective discomfort but with Western-medicine findings that fall short of a disease diagnosis and have no suitable treatment — e.g. "slightly high cholesterol, rough gallbladder wall, prostatic calcification, polyps, nodules".
3. People who meet a Western-medicine diagnosis but have multiple conditions at once, requiring care across several departments and multiple medications that the digestive system struggles to tolerate or that cause significant side effects — e.g. cancer patients needing TCM conditioning after a Western-medicine treatment course to prevent recurrence or spread.
4. People who meet a Western-medicine diagnosis where Western drugs act quickly but the condition easily relapses — e.g. colds, cough, asthma, allergic rhinitis and urticaria.
5. People wanting herbal conditioning before conception, after childbirth or after surgery to improve their constitutional state; and those with no subjective discomfort and normal Western-medicine check-ups who wish to improve their complexion or body shape (lose or gain weight) or to stay healthy and prolong life.

The five service groups defined by the national guideline (National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guidelines for the Construction and Management of Preventive Medicine Departments in TCM Hospitals [2025 Revision]):

1. People with a biased/disordered TCM constitution;
2. People in a "sub-health" state (reduced vitality and function/adaptability below the threshold of a disease diagnosis);
3. People in a "pre-disease" state (with risk factors or abnormal indicators not yet meeting a diagnosis — e.g. abnormal uric acid, pre-diabetes, dyslipidaemia, borderline hypertension, overweight, muscle strain, joint degeneration);
4. People with stable chronic disease;
5. Other specific groups (children, adolescents, women of childbearing age or around menopause, and older adults, etc.).

Hospital Information

• Name: Guangdong Clifford Hospital (Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine Clifford Hospital; Jinan University Affiliated Clifford Hospital)
• Positioning: China's first large general Grade-A Tertiary hospital accredited by JCI; a designated institution under the Greater Bay Area "Hong Kong/Macao Medicine and Device Connect" scheme; a National GCP base
• Address: No. 1 & No. 3 Hongfu Road, Panyu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
• Tel: (020) 84518222
• Website: www.clifford-hospital.org
• International Medical Department: Email [email protected] ｜ Overseas hotline +86 400 900 3823 ｜ WhatsApp +86 188 1411 5985

For a quick overview, see the Preventive Medicine (TCM) department page.

Interested in a TCM health assessment? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation. We'll review your health goals, connect you with the right TCM preventive-medicine specialist, and coordinate your entire care journey — from appointment booking and medical record translation to post-assessment follow-up.