Govt mulls changes in medical curricula for undergrad courses

In what seems to be a step towards promoting integrative medicine and research in a big way, the government is mulling modification in the undergraduate curricula to incorporate certain elements of modern medicine into traditional medicine and vice versa.

Various departments are working on this idea, including Medical Council of India (MCI) — the top body that regulates medical education in the country. A group of secretaries is reported to have suggested the idea of additions in the syllabus to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a recent meeting.

However, sources in the Union health ministry say no decision has been taken on this so far. “Change of syllabus is a long-drawn process. There is a thought at the moment,” said a senior health ministry officialon condition of anonymity.

“We are in talks with the MCI to see how medical curricula will be cross-cutting, with certain elements of allopathy added into Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) courses and of certain AYUSH elements into allopathy courses.”

The move is a part of larger plan to promote holistic well being and make experts from both the systems of medicine open to the idea of working in tandem. “Around 1 lakh subcentres in the country will be transformed into wellness centres, and 2,500 have already been selected for a pilot,” health minister JP Nadda had informed during World Health Day earlier this year.

Last year, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, started state-of-the-art Centre for Integrative Medicine and Research where experts from various disciplines of contemporary medicine collaborate with Yoga and Ayurveda specialists, both for the treatment of a disease and preventive healthcare.

“Both the systems can supplement each other,” says AYUSH minister Shripad Yesso Naik.