Ayurveda Education: Challenges and the way forward
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- Ayurveda education programs in India are facing major challenges, including a lack of good students who prefer to pursue MBBS degrees instead. After failing MBBS entrance exams multiple times, some students join Ayurveda programs, wasting approximately 40,000 youthful human years each year. - Ayurveda programs are considered a "dead end" with minimal application-based learning and students are not eligible for further education in core sciences. There is also a huge gap in maintaining proper patient records and corruption with "ghost teachers and students." - To improve Ayurveda education, the author calls for evidence-informed policymaking, a shift away from mimicking biomedical research methods, introducing specializations
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Ayurveda Education: Challenges and the way forward
- 1. Ayurveda Education: Challenges and the way forward Prof. Kishor Patwardhan Faculty of Ayurveda Banaras Hindu University
- 2. Current Status Good students prefer MBBS After 2 to 4 failures they join Ayurveda programs Loss of approximately 200 human years per batch/per college 200 colleges x 200 = 40,000 youthful human years are wasted every year! Can we afford this as a society?
- 3. Ayurveda programs are a ‘dead end’: no escape! Application-based content is minimum Basic scientists do not teach them physiology/ biochemistry/ genetics/ molecular biology Not eligible for MSc / PhD in Biochemistry / Physiology/ Pharmacology/ Biotechnology No curriculum- based standard textbooks that include recent advances
- 4. Huge Gap • Good institutions are often unable to maintain patient records because of patient overload • Poor ones maintain fake patient records as there are no patients! • Corruption: Menace of ghost teachers and ghost students
- 5. Stop Opinion- based Policies Introduce Evidence- Informed Policy Making Socioeconomic differences, population density, Health service penetration, poverty, illiteracy Employ periodic surveys to frame policies (like NCERT)
- 6. Stop Mimicking Biomedical Research Methods PG/PhD level Research currently follows “One Disease-One Medicine” approach This is NOT how Ayurveda is practiced Whole system trails are required Promote research that is in accordance to Ayurveda principles
- 7. Show Success Stories Recognize few Centers of Excellence and ask them to invite successful practitioners to teach Ayurveda students/ teachers Let students and teachers interact with successful researchers, entrepreneurs and clinicians
- 8. Specialization and Skill-Based Education Introduce DM/MCh/DNB in • Ayurveda Neurology • Ayurveda Cardiology • Ayurveda Endocrinology • Ayurveda Reproductive Medicine • AyurvedaTertiary Care specialists etc. Regulate Skill-based Programs • Ayurveda Nursing / Panchakarma Therapist / Ayurveda Pharmacist • AyurvedaVeterinary Physician/ Ayurveda Dietitian • Ayurveda Agriculture/ Farming
- 9. Promote quality and acceptability Sensitize Introduce AYUSH Module in MBBS curriculum Introduce good Teachers’ Training Programs Merge Merge some Ayurveda colleges into existing state/central universities Ensure Quality Introduce periodic licentiate examinations for renewal of license Ensure Competence Introduce NET/GATE like examination for ensuring teachers’ eligibility
- 10. Thanks!
Editor's Notes
- Every year I undertake this small exercise in the first class of newly admitted graduate students in our institution. I ask them to tell me the number of years they spent in preparation for the pre-medical entrance test before joining Ayurveda. Usually they admit that each student would have spent anywhere from 2 to 4 years in preparation for NEET/Pre-Medical Entrance Test. In a batch of 60 it amounts to a total of about 200 years. This is the number of human years wasted in preparation which could have been otherwise productive. Now, let us extend this calculation to about 200 colleges in India. The total number of human years wasted amounts to about 40,000. Remember: this number is for one year. My question is: Can we afford this as a country and as a society? Our most intelligent youth waste these many years in preparation!