Homoeopathy education to be streamlined

The Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) and the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry have taken the right step forward for regulating the functioning of homoeopathic colleges in the country and standardising homoeopathic education with a syllabus prescribed by the CCH.

                                                            

                                                                    

Major Highlihts :

• Accreditation for homoeopathic colleges has been made compulsory.
• The qualification of the teaching staff had been upgraded to postgraduation for teaching the undergraduate courses.
• The CCH has finalised the syllabus for all the seven new postgraduate courses which have not been introduced so far and added for the first time Geriatrics as a specialisation at the PG level.
• All the homoeopathic colleges to have at least 2,000 outpatients for every 100 seats.
• No attempt would be allowed to introduce the subjects related to allopathic system of medicine in the study of homoeopathy in the country & Homeopaths are not permitted to do Allopathy
• Homeopath registered in one State can practice in any part of the country
• For the first time the accreditation for homoeopathic colleges has been made compulsory and CCH will appoint a committee to visit the individual colleges and give accreditation.

The Central Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) and the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry have taken the right step forward for regulating the functioning of homoeopathic colleges in the country and standardising homoeopathic education with a syllabus prescribed by the CCH. For the first time the accreditation for homoeopathic colleges has been made compulsory and CCH will appoint a committee to visit the individual colleges and give accreditation.

Following is the excerpts of an interview with the President of the Central Council of Homoeopathy, Dr. Ramjee Singh, published in "THE HINDU" on 22SEP2013.

Dr. Ramjee Singh
President CCH

Q: What are the measures taken to improve the quality and content of education in homoeopathic colleges in the country?

A: The CCH and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have initiated several measures to regulate the functioning of the homoeopathic colleges with a view to improve the quality and content of education imparted. In fact the Health Ministry wanted to implement the Minimum Standard Education Requirement (MSER) jointly prepared by the CCH and the Ministry in all the colleges, but due to practical difficulties the implementation has been postponed to the next academic year.

Q:What are the salient points of the MSER and how will it improve the quality and content of education?

A:Besides insisting on colleges to have all the equipment and laboratory facilities as prescribed in the MSER, the qualification of the teaching staff had been upgraded to postgraduation for teaching the undergraduate courses. However, one problem was that in seven out of the 12 subjects in undergraduate homoeopathic courses we do not have postgraduate courses.

Q:How do you propose to overcome this?

A:The CCH has finalised the syllabus for all the seven postgraduate courses which have not been introduced so far and added for the first time Geriatrics as a specialisation at the PG level. These courses will be started at the earliest. The Health Ministry has also made it compulsory for all the homoeopathic colleges to have at least 2,000 outpatients for every 100 seats and at least 30 per cent occupancy of the sanctioned beds in the hospitals attached to the college.

There has been a growing demand for allowing homeopaths to practice allopathic system of medicine and the Medical Council of India had banned using those who had been trained in other system of medicine from practising allopathy.

The issue had come up for discussion in the general body meeting of the CCH more than once and on three occasions the demand made by States such as Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra for allowing the homeopaths to practice allopathic medicine was rejected. After a lengthy discussion at the last general body meeting, once again the CCH had rejected the demand.

There had been a demand for introduction of Pharmacology, a branch of allopathic system of medicine, in the undergraduate courses of Homoeopathy.

This was also discussed at length in the general body meeting of the CCH and was rejected forthright. No attempt would be allowed to introduce the subjects related to allopathic system of medicine in the study of homoeopathy in the country.

Q:What measures have been proposed to solve the difficulties faced by doctors to pursue their profession in States other than their parent State?

A: The process of registration has been made simpler now and instructions have been issued that a homeopath registered in one State can practice in any part of the country with a No Objection Certificate from the State where he is practising.

[SOURCE]