Medical education in ancient India

A brief post on medical education in ancient India. Ancient Hindu doctors were regarded as among the best in the world. They were experts in performing various advanced medical procedures including cataract surgery.

1)Aspiring candidates were eligible to enroll as medical students. 

2)A Special Upanayana(initiation) ceremony was conducted for students seeking admission to medical courses. 

3)The student was expected to be proficient in Sanskrit. 

4) Rote learning was discouraged. This is said by the great Sushruta himself. 

5) Different medical specialization courses were offered. 

6) Emphasis was laid on practical training in surgery & pharmacy.

7) Beginner students were taught how to hold medical instruments by teachers. They practiced dissection procedures first on pumpkins, cucumbers followed by dead animals. 

8) Students were also taught suturing techniques.

9) Emphasis was put on training the students in dissection. Advanced students practiced it on dead bodies. 

10) Students were required to have a throughout knowledge of the human anatomy. 

11) The quality of medical education imparted in Bharat was the highest for that era.

12) Large medical colleges (Arogyavihara) existed in cities like Pataliputra (present day Patna) where some of the students received training in advanced medical techniques. 

13) Hindu doctors were renowned for their proficiency. Arabs invited Hindu doctors to arab peninsula to teach & supervise.

14) The following is an extract from the Charakasamhitha Vimanasthana. It was an oath initiated to students on completion of their course. Very similar to the hippocratic oath administered to practitioners of modern medicine.

Some of the important points mentioned in the above oath.

a)Everyday you should continuously & wholeheartedly try to promote the health of your patients.

b)Even if your own life is in danger you should not desert your patients. 

c)Your speech should be smooth, polished, truthful & to the point. 

d)You must treat as strictly confidential all information about the patient & their family.

e)You should make a deliberate endeavor to increase the stock of your knowledge & instruments. 

f)Where there is a danger of the patient or any of his relatives receiving a shock, you should not divulge the impending death of the patient, even when you are aware of it.

g)Though well grounded in your line, you much not praise your knowledge much. One can never get a mastery of the entire medical science.
h) A wise physician should listen to & derive benefit from the discoveries & observations of even an enemy.

Ancient Hindu doctors were regarded as among the best in the world. They were experts in performing various advanced medical procedures including cataract surgery. Hindu doctors trained & imparted medical knowledge to lesser evolved societies like the arabs.

REFERENCE

Education in Ancient India by AS Altekar

Padartha dharma sangraha of Prashastapada : The Ancient Hindu knowledge on the fundamental nature of Space, Time & Matter.

The Padartha dharma sangraha of Prashastapada is one of the most important works on Physics to emerge out of ancient Bharat. The text greatly deals with the nature of matter, recognizing its atomic character & the role of atoms.

Prashastapada was an ancient Hindu philosopher who lived during the classical age of the Guptas. He wrote the Padartha dharma sangraha, which is basically a commentary on Vaisheshika Sutras of Rishi Kanada (who was the first person to propound the atomic nature of matter)

The concepts discussed in the text include those which came to be later classified as classical/newtonian mechanics. Prashastapada talks about concepts like Vega (momentum), Sanyoga vibhaga (displacement), Digvishista Karyarambhakatva (Vectors), Gamana (curvilinear motion)

Bhramana (rotary motion), Spandana (vibratory motion) among many other concepts. The concept of Vega(momentum) which forms the basis of Newton's 2nd law of motion (F=m.a) was explained by Prashastapada centuries before Newton was born.

The text talks in great detail about fluid mechanics. Concepts like Saandrataa (Viscosity), Abhisarpana (Capillary motion), fluid motion are explained in great detail here. Among the different types of motion explained by Prashastapada. This was 1000 years before Galileo & Newton.

Prasastapada also explains to us the nature of sound & its mode of propagation. He says sound travels through the medium of air in the form of circular waves.

Prasastapada was aware of the nature of atoms & their perpetual state of motion which he classified into different types including rotatory, circular & simple harmonic motion.

A small extract from the Padarthadharma sangraha, where Prashastapada first pays obeisance to Ishvara & Rishi Kanada before commencing his work.

REFERENCE

The Cultural Heritage of India Volume VI by Ramakrishna Mission