The acronym AYUSH stands for the six different types of traditional ancient Indian medical system. These used to be practiced widely in India and other neighboring Asian countries. These six branches of medicine are “Ayurveda”, “Yoga & Naturopathy”, “Unani”, “Siddha”, and “Homeopathy”. The government of India had created the department of India systems of medicine and homeopathy (ISM & H) in 1995 under the Ministry of health and family welfare. This was primarily to give a focused attention to promote the Indian system of medicine that was widely practiced in ancient India. This department was renamed as “AYUSH” in 2003 to bring in a more focused approach.

Out of all these six branches, the two most popular ones are “Ayurveda” and “Homeopathy”, and they attract a good number of young people. These streams are getting more popular in recent times particularly for chronic diseases where there is limited cure in traditional allopathic streams. Further, excess use of many of the medicines has substantive side effects. Many people are, therefore, now looking towards alternative branches of medicine that are comparatively harmless, homeopathy particularly scores in this regard. Some of the naturopathy exercises / techniques under Ayurveda also come under this realm. Hence, the AYUSH has, of late, become one of the attractions for those students who would like to become doctors but for some reason or the other could not get in the allopathic stream including BDS.

Major Career Profiles:

All career options that are usually available for a medical practitioner like MBBS or MD / MS are also accessible for graduates of these alternative streams particularly in Ayurveda or Homeopathy.

Career in Hospital: They can get employed as resident medical doctors or specialists (Ayurveda or Homeopathy) in hospitals. There are several specialist hospitals and research centers particularly for these two streams (Ayurveda or Homeopathy) and they get ample opportunities to be employed in these specialized hospitals.

Private Practice: The doctors in these two streams (and sometime in the other four streams as well) have great opportunities to become successful practitioners. Of late, we see many homeopathic / ayurveda doctors having roaring practice. The ayurvedic doctors also run special clinics for treatment under “naturopathy” and these are very popular for treating certain types of chronic diseases.

Educational Qualifications:

All these streams of medicine have their own degrees at graduate level. Bachelor of homeopathic medicine and surgery (BHMS) is the basic qualification for entering a homeopathic career. Similarly, bachelor of ayurveda medicine and surgery (BAMS) is the degree for a career in ayurveda. Similar degree for Unnail medicine is BUMS, and so on. These courses are as intensive as an MBBS degree and are of equal duration of 5.5 years (including internship) and require clearing NEET examination. However, for a successful career, it is always better to do a master’s degree which is of 3 years duration.

Needed Competencies:

Any medical professional needs a high level of precision, problem solving attitude and strong analytical skills. Jobs are mostly practical and a high degree of application focus is must. Doctors need to be updated about the latest developments in their field and therefore, they should have a life-long learning attitude. Any medical practitioner is required to possess a sense of empathy for patients. They should also be good in communication, both oral as well as written.

Future Outlook:

Dr A K Sen Gupta is the Founder and Convener, Higher Education Forum (HEF). He is former Director of SIES College of Management Studies (SIESCOMS), Navi Mumbai and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s S P Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai. He may be contacted at aksengupta51@gmail.com or 9821128103.