Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema: 14 years of postgraduate Ayurvedic education in Argentina

Abstract

The Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema (Prema Ayurveda Health Foundation) is a nonprofit organization registered with the Argentine government. Its goal is to contribute to the promotion of Ayurveda medicine and all its preventive and therapeutic resources of value in the health field. Our efforts are focused both on the medical profession and benefit to the general public. In the fields of teaching and research, our goal has been to preserve the wealth and purity of Ayurveda teachings while demonstrating its usefulness for modern science. Throughout the years, our interest has always been to integrate the useful elements of traditional medical approaches such as Ayurveda, which is our specific field of knowledge, with mainstream medicine and the scientific method of research in an atmosphere of mutual respect, acknowledgment and positive assessment. We have been spreading Ayurveda in the Argentine Republic and Latin America for over 25 years. From the year 2000, we are delivering university courses on Ayurvedic medicine. More than 2500 students from 20 countries received long-term Ayurvedic training programs, this included 600 doctors and 600 health professionals. COLLABORATION WITH GUJARAT AYURVED UNIVERSITY On January 5, 2001, after obtaining approval from India's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health, the Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema signed a memorandum of understanding with Gujarat Ayurved University (India), which accredited our institution as a collaborating center for teaching and research in the field of Ayurvedic medicine in Argentina. Support of top academics from India's major educational institutions devoted to Ayurvedic studies has made it possible for us to transmit Ayurveda's fundamentals and its most relevant therapeutic tools completely faithfully. Our relationship with Gujarat Ayurveda University has led to four intensive training seminars in Jamnagar conducted for students from our foundation. POSTGRADUATE COURSES ON AYURVEDIC MEDICINE AT BUENOS AIRES UNIVERSITY Founded in 1821, the University is the most important higher education institution in Argentina. In 2000, the School of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires approved our first Postgraduate Course on Ayurvedic Medicine.[1] Later, in 2002, were added an “Advanced Postgraduate Course on Ayurvedic Medicine”[2] and a “Postgraduate Distance Learning Course on Ayurvedic Medicine.”[3] These courses are intended for medical doctors, psychologists, pharmacists and other professionals in the health field. All these courses have been delivered under the auspices of the Indian Embassy in Argentina. AYURVEDA UNIVERSITY COURSE AT GREAT ROSARIO UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Our institution with the accreditation of IUGR has begun in 2011 a “Diploma Distance Learning Course on Ayurvedic Medicine.”[4] Since 2012 IUGR also accredited a “Diploma Course on Ayurvedic Phytotherapy,”[5] intended to expand the therapeutic uses of Latin American local flora using the wisdom and knowledge of Ayurvedic science. This is the first course that is taught on this subject with university endorsement in Latin America. In accordance with World Health Organization guidelines[6] which promotes the training not only of professionals, these courses are intended for medical doctors, psychologists, pharmacists as well as naturopaths and technicians from the health field. The health professionals receive training on Ayurvedic medicine while the technicians and naturopaths receive training on different Ayurvedic tools for promoting health. OTHER UNIVERSITY COURSES ON AYURVEDIC MEDICINE Since 2008, we have been participating at one elective Course on Complementary Medicine for undergraduate students of the School of Medicine at the University of El Salvador. We are also delivering modules on Ayurveda at Master's degree in Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology at Universidad Favaloro (since 2008) and in the “University Course on Integrative Medicine” at Belgrano University[7] (since 2012) and at Argentinean Medical Association[8] (since 2012). We coordinated and taught in 2002 a “Diploma in the Ayurveda Nutrition System, Manual Therapies and Body Aesthetics for Healthier Tourism” at the University of the Americas in Panama. During 2006 and 2007, we were invited to take charge of Ayurveda training at an online Course on Complementary Medicine at the School of Medicine, National University of Chile. OTHER ACTIVITIES PROMOTING AYURVEDA We also run regular courses on Ayurvedic massage for health technicians. These give technicians a more integrated and holistic approach to patient care and have attracted great interest. Since 2005, we are also offering online courses on the principles of nutrition in Ayurveda. By implementing several educational strategies that establish a more personal relation with students we have achieved a very positive response. This has enabled our students, who all come from Spanish-speaking countries, to share their personal growth and transformation experiences; the latter often extend to their families, making it possible for the whole family groups to acquire better health habits. Figure 1 Dean of School of Medicine, Buenos Aires University, Emeritus Professor Dr. Alfredo Buzzi, gives a distinction to Dr. Jorge Luis Berra as Director of Postgraduate Course on Ayurvedic Medicine Figure 2 Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema Study Group with the authorities of Gujarat Ayurved University after one Intensive Training Seminar Figure 3 Ambassador of India, Mr. Viswanathan and First Secretary Mr. Babu, with the Directors of Fundación de Salud Ayurveda Prema, Lic. Molho and Dr. Berra, at the Opening Ceremony of Postgraduate Course on Ayurvedic Medicine 2012 We have also conducted lectures, seminars, workshops and conferences on various Ayurveda topics in Ministries of Health, Schools of Medicine and professional and scientific associations in fourteen Latin American countries, Spain and Germany in Europe. We have also published textbooks,[9 10 11 12 13] for students and books[14 15] for professionals and the general public. Some of the papers resulting from our research work and surveys on different subjects, such as “The International Acceptance of Ayurvedic Formulations,”[16] “Physiology of Meditation,”[17] “Anorexia Nervosa and Ayurveda”[18] and “Attitudes of health professionals on non-conventional medicine: An Argentinean survey,”[19] have been presented in Indian and Latin American Congresses and Conferences. Our institution also runs its own out-patient medical center in Buenos Aires, where it is possible to get Ayurvedic medical consultations, traditional physical treatments and therapies. Of all systems of traditional medicine, Ayurveda seems to be best understood by people in Latin America. Experience confirms that its ancient wisdom is easily accepted and incorporated both by professionals, health workers and the general public. We find increasing numbers of people and institutions turning to its concepts and resources to care of individuals and families and to heal disease. Participants in our courses tell us that Ayurveda's holistic and scientific approach improves and improves the quality of the professional work of physicians and other health professionals and technicians.