Practice management in homeopathy – a post graduate training module – for better health care success, practice and appreciation

Introduction:

Popularity, appreciation and acceptance of any medical system depend on the way of practice the physician chooses. Many institutes or universities offer only the stipulated homeopathic courses with standard academic curriculum. They do not provide the day-to-day practicing skills in their syllabus. The Institute of Practicing Homoeopathy (IPH), India, an institutional member of LMHI, developed an exclusive post graduate training module.

Aims and objectives:

• To promote high standards in clinical practice.

• To make every qualified physician a skilled and confident practitioner.

Methods:

• An institute with 13 members, working in various faculties, was established.

• The module was designed with four different sections.

• Seminars and workshops were organised on the module.

• A dedicated website was hosted.

Results:

The training module was attended by 2770 participants of 8 Homoeopathic Medical Colleges and 4 other institutes from 2003 to 2016 and caused them to rectify their treatment etiquette. All the leaders of the institutes and principals of the Homoeopathic Medical Colleges appreciated this initiative. A few suggested taking up this module as a post graduate program. 58% participants changed their clinical infrastructure set-ups and started recording clinical data for evidence, reference and research. The application of practice management prompted 15% allopathic doctors also to refer their cases to homeopathic clinics to assist their further follow-ups.

Conclusion:

Most of the homeopathic physicians are very needing, when it comes to practicing skills. If the consultant physicians had undergone this training module before starting their practice, they would have become successful practitioners.