Thread on #AyurvedicSurgeons

I have been quiet on this issue because I have read history of medicine in India & written about it in my published articles. You can check them out on my blog

Ayurveda got stoned by the British during the period they ruled India. Let us agree that+

Let us also agree that the tradition of Guru Shishya Parampare was lost during this period in Ayurveda.

Creation of Medical Register & Registered Medical Practitioners where traditional medicine doctors including Ayurveda were not registered literally killed Ayurveda practices+

Ayurveda practitioners of 18th & early 19th century had to face lot of problems because of this.

Did you know that Apothecaries & Doctors of Allopathic medicine were the first brown sahibs??

The labourers estates of South India were converted to churchi using their influence

Traditional medicine had to be reigned in to use modern medicine as manna & to convert the unwashed masses where their God had not reached.

I am happy that Traditional medicine is getting its due now. However it should not become Ayurveda vs Allopathy like it is depicted now +

Surgery is a specialised branch of Healthcare. As a hospital administrator I know how difficult it is to ensure that the patient gets the best care.

Do you know that Operation theatres have undergone sea change just in past 20 years. Even the air inside changed every few minutes

Surgery is not just about cutting a patient who is willing to subject himself to such a procedure. It is team work.

It starts with design of operation theatres which cause less pain, mental agony & infection to the patient undergoing surgery.

Then comes Anesthesia.

In the past 175 years since Anesthesia emerged I can proudly say that this speciality has been responsible for the advancement of every department of Surgery.

Today it is huge speciality with lot of responsibility & various sub specialities like Cardiac, Neuro, Obstetric etc.

Then there is CSSD (Sterilisation) & Antibiotics. Understanding CSSD & helping the patient by ensuring that he is least exposed to opportunistic infections during stressful per operative period forms the crux of team work.

Surgery is not about operation. At best it is 10% of it.

After above conditions are met, we go to actual operation where operators (surgical team) are involved. Each surgery is unique & a challenge to the team. On top of it we have 20 different departments doing 500 different surgeries

It is not Model T car to be put on assembly line.

My son had to undergo a complex ENT procedure, we chose a surgeon who had 30+ years experience & did the procedure in a fully equipped theatre where every possible complications could be addressed.

I will never want anything less for any patient of mine or for any person.

What I want to say is; the operating team will have cumulative experience of 50 to 100 years before embarking on a surgery on a patient who has consented for it.

As a hospital administrator I will not allow a rookie surgeon who has just passed his MS to operate on patients

The operating team & the key surgeon should have proven track record before I allow them to operate in our hospital. It is the case in most hospitals where surgeries are done today

I do not know if Central Council for Indian Medicine (CCIM) has understood this complexities fully

India today is a nation of laws. Equality is everything.

Can we allow a patient to get substandard treatment by a doctor who is not trained & evaluated just because he is poor ??

I am sorry that the British & successive Govts did not allow Ayurvedic medicine/surgery to develop

However if Ayurveda wants to start doing surgery today we will not accept it unless they know Anesthesia, per op care & post op care.

I am not saying this because I practice allopathy but because I am a hospital administrator. Today my concerns are different & wholesome.

I will not accept a team with less than 50 years cumulative experience to operate on patients.

So if Ayurvedic Surgeons have to do surgery in the most equipped theatres they have to do MS Surgery & work for 10 years as assistant to the chief Surgeon.

Patients come first

I am happy the world recognises Sushruta for his contribution to Surgery but that was a long time ago. Centuries ago.

I am not going to allow you to bask in his glory. You better prove yourself if you have to operate on our patients.

Allopathic or Ayurvedic does not matter.