Meet a doctor who practises both surgery and Ayurveda

This is unthinkable in Bangladesh that a doctor with an MBBS degree will also prescribe alternative medicines. But this is not rare in the world.

Nurul Islam Hasibfrom New Delhibdnews24.com
Published : 7 Oct 2015, 01:53 PM
Updated : 7 Oct 2015, 07:45 PM

An Indian doctor Sebastian Mathew migrated to Austria 30 years ago after passing medical college, and is now practicing both general surgery and Ayurveda in Vienna.

He also has a three-year degree on Ayurveda, apart from post-graduation in surgery.

As he attended the first-ever medical value travel summit concluded in New Delhi on Wednesday, bdnews24.com asked him how he became a practitioner of both forms of medicine.

Mathew said he realised its need “after doing many years of surgeries”.

Ayurveda is known as the holistic science of medicine as practised and utilised mostly by Indians since centuries. It is basically more oriented towards the management of lifestyle disorders.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year after coming to power stressed on the traditional form of medicines. 

Last year in November, he also opened a dedicated ministry for the promotion of traditional medicine and yoga called AYUSH as India eyes to expand its presence in the estimated $100 billion global market for alternative medicine.

The acronym AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy.

Bangladesh also signed a MoU with India in September last year in the presence of the World Health Organisation Director-General Margaret Chan for training and research on traditional medicines.

But the effectiveness of traditional remedies over modern medicine has always been under scanner of critics.

“Its (Ayurveda) not only a medical treatment, it’s a lifestyle that can keep your life happy, healthy and disease free,” Dr Mathew said.

He said: “Modern medicines are good for acute disease treatment, operations and emergency cases, Ayurveda manages chronic diseases and works as a prevention of illnesses.”

“It cleans your body and mind as well.”

He said he started Ayurveda when he was already an experienced surgeon.

“I completed my MBBS 30 years back and then did post-graduation from Vienna University in surgery and settled there as a surgeon.

“It came to my mind after doing many surgeries that in many cases, the operations we did were not needed. Some were not successful and the patients afterwards developed the same problems.”

“I had little knowledge about Ayurveda. Then I decided to come back to India and get a three-year training in India, and then I went back to Vienna and started Ayurvedic clinic in Austria.”

Sebastian Mathew

He said people from Austria, Germany and Italy come to his Ayurveda chamber. “Europeans know about Ayurveda. As I am surgeon, they know me and come to me and then they also tell their friends to come to me (for Ayurveda)”.

He said there was a time in India when doctors used to ignore this ancient medicine.

“Even I learn that surgeries cannot do everything after many years of surgical experiences.”

“We need a holistic approach. Holistic approach is always good for patients,” he said, suggesting that if a country wants to develop this system of medicare, the government must raise awareness among the people.

“You have to inform people that there is a holistic system of medicine that works.”

But he said there must be regulations and accreditation for maintaining quality standards.

The medical tourism summit styled ‘Advantage Healthcare India –2015’ held a panel discussion on the AYUSH on the concluding day.

Speaking at the discussion, AYUSH Minister of State with Independent Charge Shripad Yesso Naik said global interest in AYUSH had grown “phenomenally and many countries showed interest to collaborate with India in this regard”.