Legislation Committee News
The Development Of Sound Ayurvedic Practitioners In California
There is a lot of discussion and hopes in the California Ayurvedic community about licensing of Ayurveda. Realistically, licensure needs broad support from larger groups of people favorable to the Ayurvedic approach. More people need to be aware of and use Ayurvedic treatments and lifestyle regimes in California than are presently using these. Only through the backing of larger numbers of users of Ayurveda, and large amounts of money, can Ayurveda have the political clout to be licensed.
In the meantime, while preparing for licensure, we need to create interim steps that will help support licensure in the future. One of the first steps is to improve the amount and quality of education for entry-level practitioners. Even though entry level practitioner training hours for Ayurveda in the state is anywhere from 300 to 650 hours at state approved schools, more education is needed. Eventually educational training for Ayurveda will have to be increased to 3000 hours for entry-level practitioners. In fact there is already one school in California that is state approved and offers over 3000 hours of Ayurvedic theoretical and clinical training (this program is similar to Ayurvedic college programs in India). With the present status of training, under no circumstances should a practitioner be able to call themselves "Doctor" with only 300-650 hours of training. If practitioners want to be called doctors, then even 4,000 hours or more of education is needed by State of California Standards.
The issue is not minimum standards in the state of California. The issue is to always insure the highest and best quality of Ayurvedic practitioner for the public, regardless of the number of hours or years of education. There are graduates of Ayurvedic schools here that have expressed the feelings that they cannot practice properly, because the level of Ayurvedic education they received did not give them the confidence to feel like they were an entry-level practitioner. This is why eventually the standards of education will be gradually raised and most likely pass the requirement of 2000 to 3000 hours of training as a minimum requirement. Presently, it is good that schools are considering improving the number of training hours, but the well trained practitioner should be the focus: there should be emphasis on clinical training.
The key to a good practitioner is actual experience in the clinic, not just theoretical learning. Students need to see many more clients in a legitimate clinical setting than has been required in the past. Actual hands on learning and practice is what is needed. This will give the students the confidence and bedside manner to be able to deal with patients in the future.
The biggest project of all in California for Ayurveda is for all major players who have stakes in Ayurveda to come together in a genuine way through full cooperation to promote Ayurveda in all areas of society here. Whether it is schools, clinics, the legislature, the public, or the Ayurvedic aficionado, everyone needs to focus on the mission of increasing awareness and support for Ayurveda. Ayurveda needs a broad and pervasive base, as well as moneyed individuals to support it fully, if licensing is ever to become a reality. It realistically may take many years of concerted cooperation amongst all Ayurvedic stakeholders before licensing will become a reality in California.
Rumor has it that Ayurveda will rise or fall with the public and the State of California in relationship to the full cooperation of the Ayurvedic community itself. If all of us throughout the state that are in the Ayurvedic community make it our intention to come together fully in cooperation and support for Ayurveda, the sky will be the limit of what we can really do.