If We Improve Our Mindset, There Would Be No Looking Back In Ayurveda: Dr. Anurag Jain

Dr. Anurag Jain is a seasoned Ayurveda Doctor from Indore. He has over 20 years of experience. He has specialization in surgery. He has treated people as young as a six-month-old baby to the elderly. Such is his faith in Ayurveda that Dr. Anurag Jain that each time he sees a patient, he believes that Charaka and Sushruta themselves are guiding him somehow, that he has the blessing hand of the Rishis on his head. Nirogstreet interviewed him about his experiences and insights from his long Ayurveda journey. Read the conversation below.

Please tell us about your educational background and professional qualification.

I graduated in B.A.M.S in Ayurveda in the year 1994 from Government Ayurved College, Indore. M.D. was always in mind even before I decided to opt for medical as a profession. I completed my M.D. from Maharashtra in the year 1998.

Why did you choose Ayurvedic practices?

My father, an orthopedic surgeon, used to advise a lot of Ayurvedic medicines to patients for their treatment. His belief that the future would hold a lot of value for Ayurveda rings perfectly with me. When the results of entrance exams were out, I missed out on M.B.B.S. seats by few marks. There was peer pressure as well as other people around me asked to try for one more attempt next year, however, my father had a conviction that I should opt for Ayurveda as I would do good in it. He traveled with me to different places for admission, however, finally, I settled for college in my hometown.

I would say it was one of my best decisions in life; there has been no looking back since i opted for Ayurveda as a career.

What is your experience when it comes to treating patients? Do they trust the treatment?

Patients though initially averse, have started taking Ayurveda seriously as the first call for treatment. At times when I was in doubt, my patients had the belief that they are at the right place. In today’s time, patients are very smart, they can easily gauge the knowledge of a doctor. There is nothing wrong with Ayurveda doctors or medicines, the frame of mind needs to be changed first of the Ayurvedic practitioners before expecting patients to trust the treatment. From the graduation time itself, a negative thought is put in mind that Ayurveda is not the first choice that should be changed immediately. If we improve our mindset, there would be no looking back for Ayurveda.

Any challenge that you face as a practitioner?

During early days of practice, i had to control my feelings on a lot of aspects. Money was an issue during the initial practice days. A lot of fellow practitioners turned to general practice to get regular patients while I wanted to be a specialist in my field. When i had started practice in Indore, the atmosphere for Ayurvedic Doctors wasn’t that immense in the city. It took time to establish myself, however, my perseverance and dedication to succeed without shortcuts made sure I never took any wrong step in my career. Since i was sticking to pure Ayurveda, my efforts to establish a Panchakarma center took longer in comparison to the time my colleagues took to set up their clinics.

Any out of ordinary situation that you have faced while treating a patient?

I would call these out of the box challenges as the best opportunities in my career. Normally in Ayurveda, Panchakarma is not advisable to young children and infants, however, I had a feeling within me that a few cases may be solved through some of the Panchkarma methods. Infants normally do vomit when they eat something in excess or if it’s not to their liking. So i did Vaman techniques on them and it worked. I had a belief that all the Rishi are standing beside me whenever i am treating a patient. Our Shastras has so much of knowledge, and if you trust on the expertise of the Rishis who have left so much of sacred texts for us, we can do our practice with ease.

How effective is traditional medicine as a cure?

It is very effective and results are always there to be seen. The people who say that Ayurveda has no instant reprieve or lacks emergency care, essentially have no confidence in their own knowledge. The only challenge that Ayurveda faces is investment and research. In last decade or so, both these things have seen money coming and research is on to find out the cure for various diseases with the help of Ayurveda. One thing which needs improvement in Ayurveda is surgical treatment. Pre and Post surgical treatments are very effective in Ayurveda; advancement in surgical procedure would do wonders for Ayurveda.

In past few years for Piles and Fistula, Ayurveda has become the main treatment and patient are realizing this slowly and steadily for other diseases too. Of late, I have seen a lot of diabetes patient turn to Ayurveda.

What do you think of Ayurveda’s future and its role in integrated medicine?

I think Ayurveda has its place secure in future. As a practitioner, once we start believing in self and trust the knowledge to suggest any cure eventually the patients too would start accepting Ayurvedic medicines. Instead of debating about the various hurdles as a practitioner we face, our focus should be to trust our competence and focus on making Ayurveda the first call of treatment.

Do you think Nirogstreet is making a difference by striving to connect the mainstream society exclusively to Ayurveda practitioners through dedicated technology platforms?

I was part of one of the CMES conducted by Nirogstreet. It is a great initiative to connect Ayurveda with technology platform. As said earlier, Ayurveda needs investment in various fields, and technology is one of them and Nirogstreet is taking care of it. Nirogstreet should persist with its endeavor to create a large community of Ayurvedic Doctors at one place so that we can leverage it to create a voice for us through one specific channel.

Any hobbies or activities you engage in, outside your professional life?

There is not much I do apart from time spent with family and Ayurveda. A lot of my time goes into looking for possibilities to manufacture medicines of Ayurveda so that Ayurvedic medicines can become affordable.

What message would you like to convey to the people on Wellbeing?

One cannot change the existing generation in one go, plus the modern lifestyle has made life dependent on various unhealthy practices. Apart from adding certain Ayurvedic methods in our daily life, we should add Ritucharya and Dincharya in school curriculum to make sure these good habits are inculcated in the lifestyle from an early age.

To know more about Dr. Anurag Jain, visit his websites panchkarma ayurveda and ayurved foundation.

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