As part of its efforts to create a talent pool to take the  Indian System of Medicine (ISM) forward,  the Department of Ayush has identified  the Bangalore based Institute of Ayurveda Integrative Medicine (I-AIM),  the multidisciplinary research, education and outreach arm of the Foundation for Revitalization of Local Health Traditions (FRLHT) to offer a brand new  flagship course.  

The two year full time course would entail the students to obtain a Post Graduate degree  followed  by a  Post doctoral certification. The degree awarded would be known as Fellow of the Institute of Ayurveda and Integrated Medicine (FIAM).

Students armed with the degree would form the talent pool titled  as  ‘Ambassadors’ in Ayush  Clinical Practice. These candidates will be much sought after going by the government of India’s efforts to promote the science of Indian System of Medicine, Dr GG Gangadharan, joint director, FRLHT told Pharmabiz.

The programme,  a first of its kind in the country, will  give a fillip to the development of the  Indian System of Traditional Medicine, which covers Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Siddha, Yoga  and  Unani.

The course curriculum is being finalized  and will cover all segments from  clinical research to  production. “There is a shortage of experts with leadership capability in the Indian System of Medicine and we need to create a new breed of experts to take this system of medicine forward not only in India but across the world”, he added.

I-AIM is the only institute in the county to be  recognized for this initiative by the government of India. The course will start in November and will include the clinical  and non clinical aspects of Ayurveda.

The Institute has also kicked off its  Good clinical management training programme wherein 20 students underwent a rigorous session of learning to have a grip on good clinical management practices. All these candidates have been absorbed by the Institute and its parent body ie FRLHT.   The course which spans for 45 days is based on a gurukula style of training. The concept is similar to a finishing school that polishes skills to supplement the formal college education. 

The biggest advantage of this course is that the  finishing schools drastically reduces the  deployable time  for an Ayurveda industry which is facing an acute shortfall of trained staff. Since the trend in the industry is to source industry-ready candidates, this is where such courses are proving to be indispensable to the freshers, stated Dr. Gangadharan.