Careers in Alternative Medicine

Our culture has allowed the health care industry to become so powerful and disproportionately lucrative that it is now in the business of illness rather than health. In one disconcerting example, a cancer physician, returning from an extended vacation, found an empty waiting room. His colleague had been treating his patients nutritionally. The physician wailed, "This is terrible. It took me years to build a long-term, regular patient clientele!" People everywhere are realizing that our doctors receive no reward for health, only for treating illness.

Alternative medicine is the collection of all the knowledge, skills, and practices based on age-old theories or experiences. It comprises a wide range of procedures native to different cultures around the world. This science is a combination of all the unconventional practices that are used to prevent, diagnose, improve, and treat any form of illness.

Some forms of Alternative Medicine for a promising Career

Ayurveda - literally meaning the science of life, aims at healing the individual as a whole, instead of merely at the molecular level. This ancient healing system is based on the theory that everything is composed of panchamahabhutas, or the five basic elements (akaash, jal, vayu, agni, dharti). The main source of our knowledge of Ayurveda is the Atharva Veda, which dates back to around 1200 BC.

Siddha - The basic principles and doctrines of Siddha are similar to those of Ayurveda. The human body is considered a conglomeration of three humors, seven body tissues and waste products. Proper consistency of these constituents in the body ensures good health.

Unani - The Unani system of medicine originated in Greece during 460-377 BC, and was brought to India by the Arabs and Persians. Unani medicine is based on the 'humoral theory' (relating to four bodily fluids) with each humor leading to a specific temperament in a human being. The Unani system makes use of plants, minerals and animal products as curative agents to re-establish the person's original humoral constitution.

Naturopathy - Popularly referred to as the drug-less treatment of diseases, Naturopathy is based on the practice of applying the simple laws of nature to cure diseases. It pays particular attention to balanced dietary and living habits, adopting purificatory measures, and using natural techniques such as hydrotherapy, cold packs, mud packs, baths (water, oil & sun), massage, etc.

Yoga - Elements of yoga have been used in traditional Indian medicine for thousands of years, though yoga therapy in its present form is a mere 80 years old. Yogic therapy comprises a wide range of mind/body practices, ranging from postural and breathing exercises to deep relaxation and meditation for promoting positive health and well-being as well as helping particular medical conditions.

Homeopathy - It lays emphasis on strengthening the immune system and curing like with like. Homeopathy today enjoys wide acceptability, both here and abroad, because of its holistic and intrinsic values, the low cost of medication coupled with ease of administration and absence of toxic side effects. In India there are over 1.5 lakh qualified homeopaths.

Tibetan Medicine - This ancient system of medicine recognizes three forms of energy in the body -- flame, wind and bile. An imbalance of these energies in any organ leads to illness. Inherent in the medicinal tradition is the use of precious pills made of herbs and other natural substances and prescribed according to the calendar.

Reiki - Reiki practitioners believe that we are born with a certain level of energy, which gets depleted through our daily activities. If the energy is depleted at a rate faster than it can be replenished, it leads to ill health. Reiki attempts to increase the overall energy stores of the body by activating the seven chakras.

Chiropracty - It is a 5000-year-old non-invasive, non-surgical approach for managing ortho-neuro-skeletal disorders, problems of the spine and other chronic disorders by restoring normal body function. Circumventing surgery (in most cases) cuts down recovery time and cost of treatment virtually by half. Chiropracty is quite popular in countries like USA, UK, Australia and Germany.

Magnetic Therapy - The word magnetic therapy comes from the magnet. In this process, the different positive forces of a magnet are taken into account to cure any kind of diseases. In the Atharvaveda words like 'sikata' and 'ashman' were used which mean 'sand' and 'stone' respectively. These two elements were effectively used to counter ravages, wrought by bleeding and for countering infertility among women. Ceramic magnetic devices owe their origin to the above two elements, in conjunction with iron.

Aromatherapy - Aromatherapy is the art and science of using oils extracted from aromatic plants to enhance health and beauty. Apart from the physical benefits like good hair and skin, essential oils have subtle effects on the mind and emotions. Essential oils are extracted from flowers, herbs, spices, woods and fibers, usually by distillation, expression and solvent extraction.

Minimum Qualification

The minimum qualification for most courses in traditional medicine is 10+2 with PCB (Physics, Chemistry & Biology). However, for Unani, Siddha and Tibetan medicine, arts/humanities students can also apply. Additionally, for pursuing a course in Ayurveda, you need to be well versed in Sanskrit/ Hindi, while for Unani, some knowledge of Arabic/ Urdu is a must. Similarly for studying the Siddha system, you need knowledge of Tamil.

Courses

Certificate

Ø  Certificate in Vaternity Assistant

Ø  Certificate in First Aid

Diploma

Ø  Diploma in Alternative Medical Sciences (D.A.M.S.)(AM)

Ø  Diploma in Hypnotherapy (D.H.T.).

Ø  Diploma in Acupuncture (D.Acu.).

Ø  Diploma in Yoga (Dip. Yoga)

Ø  Diploma in Compound Homoeopathy Medical Science (D.C.H.M.S.).

Ø  Diploma in Physiotherapy (D.P.T.).

Ø  Diploma in Electropathy Medical Science (D.E.M.S.)

Ø  Diploma in Holistic Health & Nutrition (D.H.H.N.).

Ø  Diploma in Dental Alternative Science (D.D.A.S.).

Ø  Diploma in Magnetic Healing Science (D.M.H.S.).

Ø  Diploma in Indo-Allopathy Medicine (D.I.A.M.).

Ø  Diploma in Dresser

Bachelor

Ø  M.B.B.S. (A.M.) Alternative Medicines

Ø  BAMS Ayurveda Panchkarma Chikitsa (A.M.) Alternative Medicines

Ø  BAMS Vaid Visharad (A.M.)

Ø  B.N.Y.S. (Bachelor of Naturopath and Yoga Science)

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Alternative Medicines (Basic Ayurveda)

Ø  B.A.S.M. Alternative Medicines 

Ø  B.E.M.S. Electro-Homoeopathy 

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Naturopathy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Yoga Therapy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Message Therapy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Acupressure

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Acupuncture

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Herbopathy

Ø  BDS (A.M.) Basic Dental

Ø  BUMS (A.M.) (Basic Unani)

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Magnet Therapy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Electro Homeopathy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Aromatherapy 

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Traditional Medicine

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Basic Sexologist

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Hypno Therapy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Gem Therapy

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Chikitsa Visharad

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Inimuno Homoeopath

Ø  BAMS (A.M.) Diet Therapy

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Medicinal Herbalisim

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Medical Astrology

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Radiesthesia & Radionics

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Iridology Science

Ø  B.A.M.S. (A.M.) Chiro practice

Ø  B.A.M.S. Re Flexology

Ø  BAMS (Basic herbal Ayurvedic Alternative Medicine

Ø  B.V.S. (A.M.) (Bachelor of Basic Veterinary Alternative Medicine & Surgery)

Ø  B.P.T. (Bachelor of Physiotherapy- Basic - Ortho)

Ø  B.Sc. (Basic Optometric)

Ø  B.Sc. (Basic Nursing)

Post Graduate

Ø  Doctor of Medicine in Alternative Medicine (M.D.[A.M.]

Ø  Doctor of Medicine in Compound Homoeopathy (M.D.[C.H.]

Ø  Doctor of Naturopathy (N.D.)

Ø  Doctor of Medicine in Electro Homoeopathy (M.D.[E.H.]

Ø  Doctor of Medicine in Indo Allopathy (M.D.[I.A.]

Ø  Doctor of Medicine in Acupuncture (M.D.[Acu.]

Ø  PG Diploma in Alternative Medical Sciences (P.G.D.A.M.S.)

Institutes

Ø  National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur (NIA)

Ø  National Institute of Siddha, Chennai (NIS)

Ø  National Institute of Homoeopathy, Kolkata (NIH)

Ø  National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune  (NIN)

Ø  National Institute of Unani Medicine, Bangalore (NIUM)

Ø  Institute of Post Graduate Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Medicine, Jamnagar, Gujarat (IPGTR)

Ø  Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth(National Ayurveda University), New Delhi (RAV)

Ø  Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga Science, New Delhi (MDNIY)

Ø  North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homeopathy, Meghalaya (NEIAH)

Ø  All India Institute of Ayurveda, Delhi

Ø  National Institute of Acupressure Research,Training and Treatment, Chandigarh 

Ø  Aligarh Unani & Ayurvedic Medical College, Aligarh

Ø  Ayurved Seva Sangh's Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, Nashik

Pay Packet

Salary in the field is also varying as per your expertise and professional reputation. At the entry level, one may get Rs. 25, 000-Rs. 30, 000 per month as a consultant in the government sector. The government also recruited Ayurveda Medical Officer under the pay scale of Rs. 15, 600-39, 100 with grade pay of Rs, 5400. However, in the private sector, one can get suitable pay hike as per his knowledgeable experience and expertise. For the competent practitioners earning handsome salary is not the big issue.