What I have concluded from twenty years of my experience in Ayurveda education, as a student and as a teacher, is that there is an urgent need to train the teachers of Ayurveda in some essential areas of education. I have explained in my earlier writings that teachers’ training needs to start at the level of postgraduate education itself; however, the question as to who should train these future teachers remains to be answered. This question is very important because the teachers currently involved in postgraduate teaching may not be suitable for this task in general. I receive several dissertations every year from various universities for evaluation and when I go through them, in most of the cases, I am left deeply disappointed. I find most of these dissertations not worthy of the paper on which they are printed, and, this is the reason why significant research publications are not emerging out of these studies. I find insufficiency in these dissertations at every level: the writing style, the study design, literature review, methods, statistical analysis and interpretation. I know; the supervisor alone cannot be held responsible for these discrepancies, rather, in most of the cases, it is the weakness of the entire postgraduate training program that is responsible for this kind of a poor outcome.
Possible solution:
Whenever I think of a possible solution for this problem, I am reminded of teachers’ reorientation and training programs (RoTP) that are regularly conducted all over the country by Rashtriya Ayurveda Vidyapeeth. Though this initiative is highly admirable, the way in which these RoTPs are conducted is far from satisfactory. Since last three to four years, I have participated in a few RoTPs as an expert, and, except in a few cases, my experience has not been good. When I take feedback from the participants, on most of the occasions, I get to hear that the experts keep talking on the very same topics that are taught at graduate level. In fact, the experts often forget that the participants in these RoTPs are teachers who have been teaching these topics for many years, and what they need is not just repetition, rather, it is re-orientation.
I suggest that a few specific topics be included in every RoTP irrespective of the subject specialty, so that the real purpose of RoTP is fulfilled. Of course, apart from these topics, the specific topics relevant to the subject specialty may be included as per the need. If appropriate experts from Ayurveda are not available to deliver these contents, experts from other relevant fields such as Bioinformatics, Library sciences, Education, Mass communication, Epidemiology and Biostatistics may be requested to extend their help in this task. Following is the list of topics that I suggest, which includes possible contents to be incorporated:
Privileges and duties of a teacher
1. Privileges and duties of a teacher, teaching profession- a pious profession
2. Historical perspective of teaching profession with a few examples of great teachers
3. Transmission of the latest knowledge (teaching) along with generation of new knowledge (research): Two primary duties of a teacher
4. How can a teacher pursue research activities with limited resources?
5. Role of a teacher in career guidance: How to motivate students in their pursuit of Ayurveda as their career?
6. Keeping pace with the recent developments in the field: teacher as a life-long-learner
Different modes of acquisition of information
1. Differences between the Internet Vs traditional library
2. Introduction to different web-based resources and scholarly journals related to the subject
3. How to weed-out the junk information on the web?
4. Introduction to some important web-based biomedical databases like PubMed, Cochrane library, NLM databases etc
5. Hands-on training in accessing some relevant information related to the subject
Different teaching methods and good teaching practices
1. Importance of developing essential communication skills in teaching
2. Traditional classroom lectures: strengths and limitations
3. Interactive sessions
4. Learning in small groups
5. Problem-based learning
6. Early introduction of clinical cases
7. Promoting self learning among students
8. Importance of life-long learning
Using the information technology in day-to-day teaching
1. Preparing impressive presentations / lectures
2. Blogging
3. Using multimedia technology in teaching (audio-visual)
4. Using the Internet based groups/ forums for interactions/discussions
Good examination practices
1. Good practices of question paper setting
2. Good practices of preparing multiple choice questions
3. Good practices of conducting viva voce examination
4. Good practices of conducting practical examination
5. Difference between memory-based, understanding-based and analysis-based question patterns
Planning a research project and guiding MD(AY)/PhD students
1. Identification of research question
2. Preparing a research protocol
3. Various study designs applicable for the research in the subject
4. Information about various funding agencies relevant to the field and method of submitting a project to procure resources
5. Basics of biostatistics
6. Basics of operating a statistical software like EPI-INFO
7. Introduction to various guidelines to carry out different kinds of research
Publishing the research
1. Relevant journals for Ayurveda
2. Importance of publishing one’s research findings
3. Converting a MD(Ay)/PhD thesis into scholarly publications
4. Possible types of publications: Reviews, hypothesis, original articles, letters to the editor etc.
5. Importance and features of Peer review process
6. Types of publications relevant for the subject
