The Union government had set up a commission to encourage Ayurveda medical professionals to adopt latest medical research in their work
In some serious efforts aimed at offering quality and affordable medical education and ensuring the availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals of Indian System of Medicine including Ayurveda across the country, the Union government had some time ago set up a commission under the aegis of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020.
Christened the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), the new commission has as its mandate to look at encouraging medical professionals to adopt the latest medical research in their work and to contribute towards research. It has been revealed that the Board of Ayurveda, an autonomous board constituted under the NCISM would determine the standards and norms for infrastructure, faculty and quality of education and research in medical institutions of Indian System of Medicine including Ayurveda.
Graduates to have profound knowledge of Ashtanga Ayurveda
NCISM has listed down guidelines under its National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Minimum Standards of Undergraduate Ayurveda Education) Regulations-2022 as per the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020. Accordingly, the Ayurveda colleges will have to comply with the provisions specified under the Minimum Standards of Undergraduate Ayurveda Education, wherein Ayurveda graduates shall have profound knowledge of Ashtanga Ayurveda along with the contemporary advances in the field of Ayurveda supplemented with knowledge of scientific and technical advances in modern sciences and technology along with extensive practical training, as an efficient physicians and surgeons for the health care services, the government has elaborated.
As many as 3000 teachers have been trained for the first professional course on Medical Education Technology. The NCISM has also introduced Competency Based Medical Education (CBME) for first professional courses from the academic session 2021-22, wherein, all advance teaching, training as well as assessment methods have been included.
Going by the provisions of the Indian Medicine Central Council (Requirements of Minimum Standard for Under-graduate Ayurveda Colleges and attached Hospitals) Regulations, 2016, the colleges will have to have teaching pharmacy with proper training facilities for preparation of different types of Ayurveda medicines such as Churna, Vati, Guggulu, Asava-aristha, Sneha Kalp, Kshar and Lavana, Lauh, Avaleha, Kupipakva Rasayana and like medicines, a raw drug store, and in-house drug identification. Quality Testing Lab of Pharmacy is also used for teaching, Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has been quoted by a governemnt statement as telling the Lok Sabha.
Research labs mandatory for PG centres
These apart, provision for clinical laboratories that would undertake clinical diagnosis and investigations in the hospital complexes with specified infrastructure and manpower for carrying out routine, pathology, biochemical and hematological investigation and Ayurvedic diagnostic techniques on the patients referred from Out-Patient and In-Patient department of the respective hospitals shall also be made mandatory.
Going forward, as many as 16 PG subjects in Ayurveda shall be brought in. Apart from Central Research Laboratory and Animal Experimentation Laboratory that would be mandatory for a Post graduate Centre, laboratories have been made a must for subjects such as Sharir Kriya, Dravyguna, Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, Rog Nidanaevum Vikriti Vigyana, and dissection hall for Rachana Sharira. It has also been directed that all departments would have to conduct research studies, either clinical or experimental, with the exception of the department of basic principles which has Literary Research as part of the curriculum.