BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- An annual international training course in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for foreign medical workers opened Monday in Beijing.

Organized by the Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine (IBRCM) of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, the two-week course will focus on the basic research and clinical practice of TCM, including acupuncture and herbal therapy.

"It is aimed to share the recent achievement of TCM with foreign medical workers and help people worldwide live a healthier life," said Zhao Jing, deputy director of the IBRCM, at the opening ceremony.

A total of 21 foreign medical practitioners of both Western medicine and TCM from nine countries, including Poland, Czech Republic, Iraq and India, attended the course, which is scheduled to run until Oct. 28.

"Nowadays more and more doctors want to learn TCM...the lectures helped me understand how Western doctors can benefit from TCM," said Dr. Eugenia Bellova, a family doctor who has a clinic in Slovakia.

Also the wife of the Ambassador of Slovakia, Dr. Eugenia Bellova, has suggested integrating Western medicine with TCM, expressing the expectation that a TCM center would be built in Slovakia and her willingness to further promote the spread of TCM in her country.

A total of 62 medical workers from 13 countries have applied for the course this year.