Ayurveda doctors can now perform surgeries with the central
government allowing post graduate (PG) students to practise general surgery
alongside orthopaedic, ophthalmology, ENT and dental.
The Centre amended the Indian Medicine Central Council
Regulations, 2016, to introduce formal training in the above-mentioned
procedures as part of the curriculum for postgraduate students of Shalya
(general surgery) and Shalakya (diseases of ear, nose, throat, ENT, eye,
head, oro-dentistry) specialisations.
The act has been renamed as Indian Drugs Central Council (Put
up Graduate Ayurveda Training) Modification Laws, 2020.
“The PG scholar of Shalya and Shalakya shall be
practically trained to acquaint with as well as independently perform the
following activities so that after completion of his/her PG degree, he/she is
able to perform the procedures independently,” read the gazette notification
issued on November 19.
Students will be trained in two streams of surgery and will
be awarded titles of MS (Ayurved) Shalya Tantra — (General Surgery) and
MS (Ayurved) Shalakya Tantra (disease of eye, ear, nose, throat, head
and oro-dentistry), the notification said.
The training modules for surgical procedures will be added to
the curriculum of Ayurvedic studies.
The decision will allow Ayurveda practitioners to legally
perform procedures such as skin grafting, cataract surgery, root canal
treatment, amputation of gangrene, laparotomy and ophthalmic surgeries among
others.
Meanwhile, the President of the Central Council of Indian
Medicine (CCIM) said these surgeries were being done in Ayurveda hospitals for
decades and that the notification was merely to clarify its legality.
“Postgraduate courses in surgery, ENT and ophthalmology have
been there in ayurved since 20 to 25 years and we’ve always had surgical
OPDs…No one had looked into the legality of what has been happening for
decades. So after consultation with the ministry and Niti Aayog, it was decided
to put it down in writing to make it clear that what is already being done is
legal,” said Dr Jayant Deopujari, CCIM President.
