Ayurvedic education

[Guest guest]

ayurveda , criiii dum <dumicita wrote:

> i understand your point, but i also understand that it's not

possible for all ayurveda students to come to india for 4 years or

more. there are this superficial approaches, as u said, i also met

this. but there are also people doing their best using the best

quality english translations available.

 

I agree that it is very difficult for anyone to study Sanskrit and to

complete exams for BAMS - but all students of Ayurveda who have become

Vaidyas in the modern system have done that. If we use an example -

I went to England 45 years ago to recieve an education in modern

medical system - I spoke very poor English and my knowledge of modern

medical terminology and definition was elementary. Yet I achieved this

and there were many students with me who also had to learn a foreign

language and culture - the cultural aspects of modern medicine was the

most difficult for me to learn simply because I did not have an

intellectual context for this - the way in which the professors looked

and talked about the human body and it's processes seemed very alien

to me since I had been raised in a very traditional Ayurvedic family

and my father was a medical scholar in natural medicine - he was a

devotee of Swami Sivananda of The Divine Life Society and Ghandiji.

Later I went to California and completed my education in my speciality

- my full medical education took about 12 years before all was

completed. On the subject of Sanskrit this problem is faced by most

students including Indians - they have to learn Sanskrit too.

 

It is not possible to recieve a competent medical education in any

system without long work and hard study - then in my opinion a firm

foundation in supervised clinical practice is necessary before a

person can start seeing patients on their own. My question for those

who want a short cut to a medical profession is what are your motives

and why do you call your practice Ayurvedic medicine. Very few people

would agree that it would be OK for someone to take a six months

course in Allopathy and then set themselves up in medical practice

calling themselves doctor.

 

This problem I believe occurs becuase many people do not understand

what is Ayurvedic medical education and practice. Many people read

books by western writers - study dosha and guna theory - study the

rudiments of panchakarma - and learn about some medicines - and

suddenly they think they are Vaidyas - this shows lack of respect for

the noble profession of Ayurvedic medical practice. At the most these

people could be called Ayurvedic medical technicians but not Vaidyas.

In fact I find that most technicians working in Ayurvedic clinics and

hospitals in India are much more competent than most of the western

students of Ayurveda many of whom see patients in their private

practice - in India the idea that ayurvedic nurses and technicians

would open a private practice and see patients as though they were

physicians is rediculous.

 

True Ayurvedic medical practice is not a simple elaboration of home

remedies and Ayurveda inspired naturapathic practice - it is a fully

elaborated science with hundreds of years of refinement behind it.

Naturopathic practice of sweating, massage, purgation, enema, etc, is

widely used all over the world and with good benefit by many but this

is not Ayurvedic medical practice. Shodhana therapies are used in

every culture and have been developed into very advanced systems by

the Naturopaths and others and some of them have been inspired by

Ayurveda theory - many Yoga schools in India have developed such

purification practices based on Dosha theory - many have confused all

of this with Ayurvedic medical practice and think it is the same thing

- this is not true and shows a complete lack of understanding of what

is Ayurvedic medical practice.

 

Ayurveda inspired health systems have there place - my father is a

Yoga practioner and lives according to Ayurveda theory - but even he

does not call his practice of Yogic science as Ayurvedic medical

practice - he calls himself a Naturopath and a Yoga practioner. In my

opinion this is the correct model for those technicians who have

established themselves in an Ayurvedic inspired medical practice

without a medical degree - it is wrong to imply that one is a

physician when one is not - we have enough of these types of people

who are spoiling the name of Ayurveda in India - my fear is that these

people are becoming the dominant voices in the Ayurveda community and

that people will begin to think that these people are really Ayurvedic

physicians. There are many bogus people going to Europe, America and

other countries claiming to be Vaidyas - seeing hundreds of patients

and making big money - with no formal education in Ayurveda at all -

the gullible public has no way of knowing who is real and who is not -

in fact these people are greatly confusing the concept of what is

Ayurveda and in the long run are doing great harm to an ancient

science and tradition.

 

In answer to the posters question - I do not believe anyone should be

looking for short cuts to their medical education. Seeing patients

suffering serious disease process is a great responsibiity and is not

just another way to make a living - it should be approached with more

seriousness than is often done.

 

Dr Vinod Kumar