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About the college

Leadership & head doctor

学院领导

SCMAT UK is led by a small executive: a Principal who holds the traditional office of head doctor, a Clinical Director responsible for patient safety and clinical standards, and a Director of Education accountable for academic quality. Below them sits the organisation chart that the college actually runs on.

The office of head doctor

What the title means here

In the tradition, the head doctor of an institution — 院长, yuànzhǎng — carries personal responsibility for the medicine practised under its roof. We take that seriously, and we have not reduced it to an honorary title.
  • Responsibility for diagnosis and treatment

    The Principal holds ultimate clinical responsibility for what happens in the teaching clinic, including difficult or deteriorating cases, decisions to stop treatment, and the point at which a patient should be referred on.

  • Sign-off of clinical competence

    No student treats a member of the public unsupervised, and no student is signed off as clinically competent without the Principal's agreement, on the recommendation of the Clinical Director and the supervising practitioners.

  • Accountability in UK terms

    The same role also carries what a UK provider needs: accountability for academic standards, for the college's compliance with its own regulations, and for the accuracy of what the college claims publicly about itself.

  • Teaching, not only managing

    The Principal teaches on the acupuncture and herbal programmes and supervises in the clinic. A head doctor who no longer practises is a manager, and this college did not appoint one.

The executive

Who leads the college

Three posts carry the college's executive responsibility. Each holds a defined portfolio, and each reports to the governing body through the Principal.

Principal and Head Doctor

Dr [HEAD DOCTOR NAME]

[院长姓名]

Qualifications and registration: PhD Chinese Medicine · MBAcC · [REGISTRATION NUMBER]

The Principal leads the college academically and clinically, and holds overall responsibility for the standard of teaching and of patient care in the teaching clinic. The role combines the traditional Chinese medicine position of head doctor — carrying responsibility for diagnosis and for the conduct of treatment — with the governance duties of a UK education provider.

Trained in [COUNTRY/CITY] and subsequently in the UK, the Principal has taught Chinese medicine for [XX] years and maintains an active clinical practice alongside the leadership role. Please replace this biography with the Principal's own account of their training, clinical background, teaching record and publications.

Areas of responsibility

  • Internal medicine
  • Gynaecology
  • Clinical supervision
  • Curriculum design

Clinical Director

[CLINICAL DIRECTOR NAME]

Qualifications and registration: MSc Acupuncture · BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy · HCPC registered · [REGISTRATION NUMBER]

The Clinical Director is responsible for patient safety, clinical governance and the supervision of students in the teaching clinic. The role oversees consent procedures, incident reporting, infection prevention and the audit cycle that keeps clinical standards under review.

Please replace this biography with the Clinical Director's own account of their clinical background and governance responsibilities.

Areas of responsibility

  • Musculoskeletal pain
  • Clinical governance
  • Patient safety
  • Interprofessional practice

Director of Education

[DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION NAME]

Qualifications and registration: MA Education · PGCE · [AWARDING BODY] external examiner

The Director of Education is accountable for the academic quality of every programme: validation, assessment design, moderation, external examining and the annual monitoring cycle. The role also leads on admissions policy and on the college's work toward accreditation.

Please replace this biography with the Director of Education's own professional history.

Areas of responsibility

  • Curriculum validation
  • Assessment design
  • Quality assurance
  • Adult learning

Illustrative names and credentials

The names, biographies, credentials, testimonials and dates shown on this page are illustrative placeholders. They must be replaced with verified information, and testimonials must be used only with the subject's written consent.

Organisation chart

How the college is structured

Reporting lines across the college. The chart is a nested list, so it can be read by a screen reader, printed legibly and kept accurate without redrawing an image.

Every post shown above is a placeholder pending confirmation of the college’s real staffing structure. Committee membership, meeting frequency and terms of reference are set out on the governance page.

How the college is led

Three kinds of leadership, kept deliberately separate

Academic quality, clinical governance and operational management are distinct responsibilities with distinct accountabilities. Separating them makes it harder for any one of them to be quietly neglected — and clearer who answers when something goes wrong.

Led by the Director of Education

Academic leadership

  • Programme design, validation and periodic review
  • Assessment design, marking and internal moderation
  • The external examining system and examination boards
  • Annual monitoring and the student feedback cycle
  • Admissions standards and entry requirements
  • Tutor appointment, induction and teaching observation

Programmes

Led by the Clinical Director

Clinical governance

  • Patient safety and clinical standards in the teaching clinic
  • Consent, confidentiality and clinical record-keeping
  • Infection prevention and safe handling of sharps
  • Incident reporting, adverse-event review and clinical audit
  • Supervision ratios and sign-off of student competence
  • Herb quality, sourcing and dispensing standards

Clinical services

Led by the Registrar

Operational management

  • Admissions process and applicant support
  • Student records, enrolment, timetabling and key dates
  • Sites, clinic rooms, equipment and facilities
  • Fee arrangements and instalment plans
  • Data protection and record retention
  • Welfare, reasonable adjustments and safeguarding referrals

The college office

The three post-holders meet as the executive group [FORTNIGHTLY], with standing items on clinical incidents, student progress, staffing and finance. The academic board and the clinical governance committee meet separately and report to the governing body, which holds the college to account for all three areas at once.

Where responsibilities overlap — herb quality, for example, sits between the clinical and academic portfolios — the split is written down and the lead is named, so that “everyone thought someone else was doing it” is not an available explanation.

Interested in teaching or working with us?

We appoint tutors and clinical supervisors as the college grows. Roles, the appointment process and what we look for are set out on the careers page.