CAREER IN AYURVEDA: A BRIGHT FUTURE IS WAITING FOR YOU

Despite the mad rush for engineering and medical as the most preferred Ayurveda career options for the students, the respect Ayurveda has received in the past few years or decades is quite salient. Though it is one of the oldest systems of medicine in the world in the modern day to day life, but Ayurveda is proved to be beneficial for both common men and physician. It is also an 'El Dorado' for the right person through proper career counseling.

About Ayurveda:

• Originated in India over 5000 years ago, Ayurveda is World's oldest known medical science. It is also believed to be the source of all system of modern medicines.
• Ayurveda treatments have its own standard of purification and rejuvenation.
• Ayurveda treatment in India subsumes the toxic substances that germinate due to poor diet, mental and physical stress, inadequate sleep, weak digestion and none the less an extremely polluted environment that ultimately leads to various life threatening diseases.
• It helps to regain the equilibrium of the various human body parts that have been disturbed due to some artificial practices of the modern life.
• According to the theory of Ayurveda all the living objects in this Universe are combinations of three energy elements air, fire and water. The balance between these three elements keeps one healthy. An imbalance and disorder in this naturally brings forth several diseases. So Ayurveda uses natural methods to keep the perfect balance of these components in living beings.
• The treatment achieves its goal by focusing on a healthy metabolic state, good digestion and proper excretion.

Ayurveda Courses and Eligibility:

• Bachelor program in Ayurveda such as Ayurvedacharya or Bachelor of Ayurvedic medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is offered by the Indian Medical colleges. It is a five and half year of course with one year internship. As the minimum eligibility condition for this course the candidate should complete Higher Secondary or P.U.C. preferably with Sanskrit or an examination equivalent to it. Science students having Physics, Chemistry, Biology and / or Sanskrit as their choice of subjects are qualified for this course too.
• There are few institutions offering certificate or diploma courses or pre Ayurvedic courses to the students. The duration of such courses is 1to 2 years. To get their admission in this program the candidates must have an S.S.C.L. or Matriculation degree as their qualification.
• To the BAMS program admission is generally made on the basis of an entrance exam. There are also few institutes which accommodates students in order of their merit.
• A BAMS student can opt for any of the 18 specialized Ayurveda courses such as pharmacist, surgeon, dietician, gynecologist, teacher, panchkarma practitioner, etc.
• Candidates after the completion of BAMS can apply for post graduation in MD and MS in Ayurveda. This is a three years course which is organized by many recognized institutions of the country.
• Candidates who have cleared their MBBS examination recognized by the Medical Council of India and has completed one year internship training can also apply for Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery in Ayurveda.
• Under the ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS) indulges researches in various fundamental and applied aspects of Ayurveda. The students those who have qualified the academics of Ayurveda can engage in several research works to bring further development to this traditional system of medicine. 
  

Career prospects of Ayurveda:

Bachelors Degree in Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery is an integration of Traditional Ayurveda with current medicines. Several Universities in India has awarded this medical Degree. After the graduation in BAMS, candidates can register in the Ayurveda boards controlled by both Central and State Government. A register candidate is qualified to work under any Ayurveda Medical Services anywhere in India. There are also several other choices in this Division of Study which a suitable candidate can opt for.

Career in Private Sector after BAMS:

• Students having a BAMS Degree can find employment in copious private sectors
• They can seek for a job under several administrative departments of many well-reputed industries.
• An additional management degree will provide them many opportunities in different industries.
• Industries like Dabur, Lupine etc provides employments to many graduates of Ayurveda.
• These graduates can also go for research works in Industries as a alternatives.
• These aspirants can open their own retail shop in a well-populated and easily accessible neighborhood.

Some of the career options after BAMS are in

• Ayurvedic Private Medical Colleges.
• Healthcare IT.
• Insurance.
• Life Science Industry.
• Medical Tourism.
• Pancha Karma Centers.
• Pharma Industry.
• Private Practice.
• Research Laboratories.

Government jobs after BAMS:

The BAMS degree holders can seek jobs in public sector departments too. There are many govt. hospitals, pharmaceuticals labs colleges etc recruiting BAMS graduates. Students passing this graduation course can make their careers in public sector organization such as Clinical trials, health care community and healthcare institutions. They can perform their duty as doctors in the government hospitals and thus gain much respect. They also have the opportunities to work with several NGO's and many global agencies like W.H.O. Some of the government sector jobs are given below.

• Pharmacists at Government Ayurveda dispensaries and hospitals.
• Teaching in Government colleges and Ayurveda Institute after doing BAMS.

Career Abroad:

The BAMS graduates have great career opportunities abroad particularly in the medical tourism field. In countries like US, Ayurveda has achieved a noticeable rise in its reputation. Thus many recognized pharmaceutical laboratories provide research in this field in different countries the rising healthcare sector have brought many job offers for these graduates. An MBA degree as the extra eligibility in the management field along with a BAMS qualification provides excellent recruitment's offered by foreign countries.

Long term career road-map:

The rise in the trend for herbal products has brought quite benefits to the Ayurvedic Pharmacies and thus they are increasing in numbers. Since Ayurveda is one of the latest fields with a vast market potential, Indian Government is also focusing on its development. As qualified persons are less in this field a need was felt to expand a work force focused in Ayurvedic Manufacturing and dispensing. Self-employment is always a priority and so is the demand in this professional program.

Remuneration:

• The earning of an Ayurvedic doctor appointed in a government hospital is similar to that of a homeopathy practitioner. The gross salary varies between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.
• The remuneration of a private practitioner solely depends on the effort put into the action and here the earning is much more than the previous one.
• There are private sector hospitals and nursing homes having tremendous openings for Ayurveda professionals offering great pay-packages.
• Now Ayurvedic medicine has also become an up and coming practice in the United States. It has its demand as an alternate medicine in the Western countries as well as in the eastern countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. Thus the demand for professionals in this field is also increasing in the foreign countries. The graduates and post graduates of Ayurveda can now dream for a professional career abroad where the remuneration is obviously beyond expectations. For those who are beginners the earning is $20,000 per year where as the more experienced ones make between $35,000 and $60,000.
• Ayurveda experts can also find employment in pharmaceutical companies for new researches of Ayurvedic medicines.

Characteristics:

• Ayurvedic study focuses on healing illness and the prevention of diseases. Thus it is a dedicated work with a cause of social welfare.
• The Ayurveda practitioners are also called doctors and they are as respectable as any other medical practitioner in India and in the foreign countries.
• By choosing Ayurveda as career one can help the patients by providing natural medicinal cures.
• According to the natural principle, by living in harmony with nature one can achieve a healthy body along with the peace of mind and thus nature and natural resources are inevitable for those who are going to dedicate their whole life by providing mankind various treatments by Ayurveda.
• For Ayurvedic Treatments previous in depth Knowledge about the medicine is must.

Benefits of Studing Ayurveda:

• Ayurveda studies and training primarily includes theories of Ayurveda, identification of body types, treatment procedures, pulse diagnosis, different massages etc.
• Through Ayurvedic treatment we also achieve a new view towards life.
• According to the theories of Ayurveda each and every one can be beautiful inside and out
• The cost of Ayurvedic medicines are also not much thus it is popular among the rich as well as the poor.
• Chemicals are always harmful and thus Allopathy medicines are the cause of several diseases as its side effects.
• Ayurveda is a set a great example of how nature contains the cure of all diseases.
• The chronic diseases like cancer has not found cures in the medical science till now but it is claimed to be cured by Ayurvedic medicines.
• As Hygiene in form of regular bathing, skin care, brushing teeth and washing eyes is given the prime importance in Ayurveda it seems to be much beneficial for building our healthy life style.

Ways of treatment in Ayurveda:

The students of Ayurveda must have knowledge about the basic natural therapies involved in this mode of treatment

• Taste-Herbs and nutrition
• Touch-Massage and Yoga
• Smell-Aromatherapy
• Sight-Color therapy
• Hearing-Music therapy, chanting and mantra meditation
• Spiritual-Meditation, living ethically and working in a career one loves.

Medicines and their application for treatment:

Medicines required for Ayurvedic treatments are very easily available thus an Ayurvedic doctor can offer proper treatment to the patient without bothering much about the arrangement of aid.

• Plant based medicines and treatments are used in Ayurvedic remedies.
• Patients are also given minerals like sulfur, lead, arsenic, copper etc as per their prescription and requirement. The process of mixing minerals with herbs is termed as Rasa Shastra.
• For the patients undergoing surgery, Alcohol is used as a narcotic.
• To stop bleeding both oil and tar were used.
• Application of herbals and animal preparations facilitates blood clotting thus stop bleeding when there is ligation of blood vessels.
• To treat burns there is honey made by honey bees.
• Turmeric boiled in mastered oil if applied gives us relief from pain.
• Garlic is prescribed to those having calcium deficiency.

Specializations

There are 18 branches available for an advanced or post graduation program in Ayurvedic medication. These specializations that leads to a PhD in Ayurveda are

• Kaya Chikitsa or the internal medicine: It deals with the treatment of general elements such as fever, diarrhea, cough etc by Kaya or Agni.
• Kumar Bhritya or pediatrics: Considering that facts that children cannot explain their physical illness and the medicines prescribed to them should be palpable and the dosage should be   Ayurveda has this special and separate for their treatment.
• Graha chikitsa: This branch deals with diseases like insanity, epilepsy and other psychosomatic diseases.
• Urdhvanga chikitsa: This branch includes the treatments of diseases of the organs above t he clavicle such as eyes, nose, ears, throat, mouth, teeth and head.
• Shalya chikitsa: this mode provides treatment of diseases that require surgical therapies and also wounds caused by foreign bodies. Diseases those are not cured by medicinal treatments need surgery.
• Visha chikitsa: This deals with the treatment for poisoning from animals such as snakes, insects, spiders, scorpions and even from plants, minerals, metals etc.
• Rasayana chikitsa: The procedure deals with rejuvenation and the restoration of the youthfulness of an individual. To restore youth and vitality various therapies and herbs are used.
• Vajikarana chikitsa: In this branch various medicines and therapies are introduced for improving the virility and the sexual prowess of a person thus helping him to get a good progeny.
• The fundamental rules of Ayurveda or Sidhanta.
• Treatise of Ayurveda or Ayurveda Samhita
• Anatomy or Rachna Sharira
• Physiology or Kriya Sharira.
• Materia Medica and Pharmacology or Dravya Guna Vigyan.
• Pharmaceuticals or Ras Shastra Bhaishajya Kalpana.
• Obstetrics and Gynecology or Prasuti Tantra.
• Preventive medicine or Swastha Vrita.
• Pathology or Rog Nidan.
• Shalkya Tantra or Eye and ENT.

Top Ayurvedic Colleges

The Top Ayurvedic Colleges of India are listed below

• Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore.
• JB Roy state medical college, Kolkata.
• State Ayurvedic College, Hardwar.
• National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur.
• Bharati Vidyapith, Pune.
• Shri Ayurveda Mahavidhyalaya, Nagpur.
• Government Ayurvedic College, Raipur.
• Gujarat Ayurvedic University, Gujarat.
• Rishikul State Ayurvedic College, Pilibhit.
• Dr. B K R government Ayurvedic College, Hyderabad.
• Ayurvedic and Unani Tibia College, New Delhi.

Entrance exams:

Candidates preparing for entrance exams to get admission in Ayurveda related courses can find several books and also guidance from different websites. Some of the exams are mentioned below:

• Uttarakhand Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examination.
• Kerala State Entrance Exam.
• National Institute of Ayurveda Entrance Exam.(NIA)
• Common Entrance Test or CET Karnataka.
• AYUSH Entrance Exam.

According to Ayurveda, Mother Nature provides remedies to prevent and cure all the ill-effects that human body is most prone to. Prepared from natural herbs, fruits, vegetables and minerals, the Ayurvedic Medicines has no side effect and thus it has gained international acceptance too. But at the same time this mode of treatment is relatively slow and requires much more patience than its allopathic counterpart. In spite of all these factors Ayurvedic method of treatment has not let our expectations down and as a result there is an increase in demand for the Ayurveda experts and Ayurvedic doctors. Hence those who are eager to choose Ayurveda as their career have a bright future ahead.

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