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| Abbreviation | IMA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1928 |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Location |
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Region served | India |
Membership | 317,458 as of November 30, 2019 [1] |
National President | Dr. R. V. Asokan |
| Website | www |
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) is a private, national voluntary organisation of physicians in India. It was established in 1928 [2] as the All India Medical Association, and was renamed the Indian Medical Association in 1930. It is a society registered under The Societies Act of India.
The Indian Medical Association has approximately 350,000 member doctors [2] in 1,700 active local branches in 29 states and union territories in India. [3] [4] It is the largest association of medical doctors in India. [5]
Previously stationed out of Calcutta, the IMA is headquartered in New Delhi. [2] Local branches send representatives to a central council which meets annually. [6] The council delegates to a working committee that represents all state branches and meets at least three times a year. [6]
The Indian Medical Association is one of the 27 founder members of the World Medical Association, [7] joining in 1948. [2] The IMA left the organization in 1985 due to the WMA's retention of South Africa, then a practitioner of apartheid. The IMA rejoined the WMA in 1993. [2] A Reuters investigative report from 2015 found that the IMA had incorrectly told the WMA that charges of corruption brought by the Central Bureau of Investigation against former IMA president Ketan Desai had been withdrawn. [8] [9]
The IMA has expressed opposition to integrated medicine or the mixing together of systems of medicine in curriculum, practice and research in India, often by using the term "mixopathy". [10] [11] [12] The IMA has held a number of nationwide protests. [13] [14] [15] These have included several protests between November 2016 and March 2017 [16] that objected to bills raised toward the creation of the National Medical Commission [15] [17] which replaced the Medical Council of India on 25 September 2020. [18] In December 2020, approximately one million doctors attended a day-long strike organized by the IMA to protest a federal government rule that allows practitioners of the Indian system of medicine Ayurveda to perform minor surgeries. [19] In early 2021, the IMA held a two-week nationwide hunger strike to protest the government's support for surgical training for postgraduate students of Ayurveda. [20]
In 2022, Sahajanand Prasad Singh was listed as the national president for the organization. [11] Singh was preceded in the post by surgeon J. A. Jayalal from 2020 to 2021. [21] Longtime member and cardiologist K. K. Aggarwal held several posts within the IMA including president. [22] [23] Ketan Desai served as the organization's head [24] from 2001 to 2003 [25] following a period when he had been found guilty by Delhi High Court of corrupt practices and abuse of power. [26]
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The Journal of the Indian Medical Association, (JIMA), is indexed in the Index Medicus. Published monthly, JIMA has over 240,000 subscribers for its electronic version and is also available in microfilm through Bell & Howels, US. [29] JIMA was founded in 1930 by Sir Nilratan Sircar, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Kumud Sankar Ray, and others in Calcutta. [29]
Ayurveda is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practiced throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayurveda is pseudoscientific and toxic metals such as lead are used as ingredients in many ayurvedic medicines.
Unani or Yunani medicine is Perso-Arabic traditional medicine as practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia and modern day Central Asia. Unani medicine is pseudoscientific. The Indian Medical Association describes Unani practitioners who claim to practice medicine as quacks.
Swami Ramdev, known also by the prefix Baba, is an Indian yoga guru, businessman and brand ambassador for Patanjali Ayurved. He is primarily known for being a proponent of yoga and ayurveda in India. Ramdev has been organizing and conducting large yoga camps since 2002 and broadcasting his yoga classes on various TV channels. He co-founded Patanjali Ayurved and Patanjali Yogpeeth with his colleague Balkrishna in 2006. Ramdev has received criticism over his comments related to modern medicine, yoga, and ayurveda.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) was a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India until its dissolution on 25 September 2020 when it was replaced by National Medical Commission. The Council granted recognition of medical qualifications, gave accreditation to medical schools, granted registration to medical practitioners, and monitored medical practice in India. The MCI faced persistent criticism for corruption.
Siddha medicine is a form of traditional medicine originating in southern India. It is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India.
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) is a professional degree focused on Ayurveda offered in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The Ministry of Ayush, a ministry of the Government of India, is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine and alternative medicine systems in India. Ayush is a name devised from the names of the alternative healthcare systems covered by the ministry: ayurveda, yoga & naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa, and homeopathy.
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) was a statutory body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India between 1971 and 2021. The CCIM was set up in 1971 under the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, which was passed in 1970. It is one of the Professional councils under University Grants Commission (UGC) to monitor higher education in Indian systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Sowa-Rigpa.
A. Marthanda Pillai- MS (Neuro), MNAMS (Neuro), FRCS, is an Indian neurosurgeon. In 2011 he was the recipient of a Padma Shri Award for medicine. He is the first former National President and former Vice-President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Kerala State to receive this national award. He led the protest against proposed National Medical Commission Bill for IMA.
Dr. Ketan Desai is an Indian urologist from Gujarat. He was head of Medical Council of India in 2001 when he was removed for corruption. Desai began teaching at B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad following his graduation in 1983 and served as head of the urology department from 2005 until his resignation in 2010. He was president of the Indian Medical Association from 2001—2003 and the World Medical Association for the year 2016/2017.
Sir Nilratan Sircar was an Indian medical doctor, educationist, philanthropist and swadeshi entrepreneur. He was awarded honorary DCL by University of Oxford and LL.D. by University of Edinburgh. He was a renowned figure in promoting Science and Technology education in contemporary India.
Sudarshan Kumar Aggarwal is an Indian medical doctor and radiologist. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of medicine.
Krishan Kumar Aggarwal was an Indian physician and senior cardiologist who was President of the Confederation of Medical Association of Asia and Oceania (CMAAO), President of the Heart Care Foundation of India and the Past National President of Indian Medical Association. In 2010, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of medicine.
Rajagopalan Krishnan Vaidyan was an Indian ayurvedic practitioner from the Indian state of Kerala and the president of the Association of Ayurvedic Physicians of Kerala.
Vaidya Balendu Prakash is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner. He is a former physician to the President of India and the founder of Paadav, a specialty Ayurvedic hospital in Dehradun. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian award of the Padma Shri in 1999.
Devendra Triguna is an Indian Ayurveda practitioner, known for his expertise in Pulse diagnosis. He is a former honorary physician to the President of India and the incumbent president of the Association of Manufacturers of Ayurvedic Medicine (AMAM) and the All India Ayurvedic Congress (AIAC). The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 1999, and followed it up, a decade later, with the third-highest honour of the Padma Bhushan in 2009.
Paneenazhikath Narayana Vasudeva Kurup was an Indian Ayurvedic practitioner, researcher, writer and the founder director of the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRIMH). He is a former vice chancellor of the Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar and a former advisor of the Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy (ISM&H) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. He has published several articles and a book, A Handbook on Indian Medicinal Plants, on the traditional Indian medicine system, The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2005, for his contributions to Indian medicine.
The Doctor of Medicine in Ayurveda or Ayurveda Vachaspati is a three-year masters-level course in the alternative medical system of Ayurveda. It is offered in some medical colleges in India and Sri Lanka. Selection to the course is generally done by a competitive national-level written entrance examination known as the All India AYUSH Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET), which is open to candidates with a Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine, and Surgery.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) is a statutory body in India that regulates medical education, medical professionals, institutes, and research. Established on 25 September 2020, it replaced the Medical Council of India. The Commission grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical schools, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice and assesses the medical infrastructure in India.
Charaka shapath is a certain passage of text in Charaka Samhita, a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda believed to have been composed between 100 BCE and 200 CE. The passage referred to as Charaka Shapath is written in the form a set of instructions by a teacher to prospective students of the science of medicine. According to Charaka Samhita, the unconditional agreement to abide by these instructions is a necessary precondition to be eligible to be taught in the science of medicine. The passage gives explicit instructions on the necessity of practicing asceticism during student life, student-teacher relationship, the importance of committing oneself fully and completely for the well-being of the patient, whom to treat, how to behave with women, and several other related issues. The passage appears as paragraphs 13–14 in Chapter 8 of the Vimanasthana in Charaka Samhita.
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