Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is a

professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...

focused on

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

offered in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Ayurveda is a type of

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

, and the study of Ayurveda is

Pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

while the practice can be classified as pseudoscientific.

About

A 2001 report from the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

noted that Ayurveda was widely practiced in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, the four corresponding nations that offer the BAMS degree. Ayurveda was generally not integrated with the national health system of nations outside of the Indian subcontinent.

India

In India, the curriculum includes the study of Ayurveda and corresponding Ayurvedic subjects such as ''Rachana Sharira'', ''Kriya Sharira'', ''Dravyuaguna'', ''Svasthavritta'' and Yoga, ''Roga Nidana'' and ''Vikriti Vijnana'', ''Kaya Chikitsa'', ''Kaumara Bhritya'', ''Prasuti Tantra'', ''Shalya Tantra'', ''Shalakya Tantra'' etc. along with human

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

& diagnostic procedures, principles of medicine,

pharmacology Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur betwee ...

toxicology Toxicology is a scientific discipline, overlapping with biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and medicine, that involves the study of the adverse effects of chemical substances on living organisms and the practice of diagnosing and treating ex ...

forensic medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...

, E.N.T, gynecology & obstetrics, ophthalmology and principles of surgery from modern medicine. The syllabus also includes ancient and medieval classics, sometimes in the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language. Institutions in India that offer the degree include the National Institute of Ayurveda and

All India Institute of Ayurveda, Delhi The All India Institute of Ayurveda (abbreviated AIIA) is a public Ayurveda medicine and research institution located in New Delhi, India. History The proposal for the establishment of AIIA at New Delhi originated from then-Prime Minister Ata ...

. In India, a student can go on to earn a master's degree in the form of MD (Ayurveda) and MS (Ayurveda), a PhD, and clinical doctorate degrees in traditional and complementary medicine at the university level. There are also opportunities to perform research, work in hospital and healthcare administration, and in health supervision. In a report from 2020, the

stated there was "a history of combining allopathic and

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

systems in India, including through medical education." The WHO described AYUSH and conventional medical systems as "separate and parallel at the levels of governance, organisation, education and service delivery." A nation-wide survey conducted by the researchers of the Banaras Hindu University in 2009, which included a total of 1022 students and teachers of Ayurveda, revealed that the graduates possessing a BAMS degree generally lack required exposure to essential clinical skills. In another paper derived from the same study, the authors have identified multiple global challenges being faced by the Ayurveda education sector.

Permission to practice medicine

BAMS graduates have been permitted to practice medicine in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. In the state of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, BAMS doctors appointed in primary health centres in rural areas can practice modern-medicine in case of "emergencies".

References

External links

Central Council of Indian Medicine
(CCIM), the apex body in India which regulates education and practice of BAMS doctors {{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelor Of Ayurveda, Medicine And Surgery Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery Bachelor of Academic degrees of India Medical degrees Medical education in India