Ivan Susanszky learns about TCM from Zhao Jun, head of acupuncture clinic at the First Hospital Affiliated with the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, on Feb 12. [Photo by Zheng Wentao for chinadaily.com.cn]

To better learn TCM, which is taught in Chinese, Susanszky started with learning the language and spent one year in a local language training school in 2012.

In 2017, Susanszky, who studied in Budapest for four years, finally had the opportunity to study in China. He got a one-year internship at the First Hospital Affiliated with the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in Jiangsu province.

"It was quite a precious experience even if it made me graduate a year behind my classmates," he said, adding that he went to the hospital in Harbin in 2018.

For the enthusiastic foreign intern, Zhao Jun, head of the acupuncture department of the hospital in Heilongjiang, who taught him, said "Ivan is really one of the hardest-working students that I have ever met."

"He became familiar with the working procedure in less than one month and has been warmly welcomed by the patients because of his professional performance as well as smile." 

After the study and internship in China, Susanszky has decided to develop deep love in the traditional Chinese medicine treatment, saying "After graduation, I will return to Budapest and I hope I can fulfill my dream of opening a clinic."