Ayurveda doctor Syal Kumar gets PhD from Europe

KOCHI: A rare recognition has come the way of Dr Syal Kumar, an Ayurveda doctor hailing from Koonammavu in Ernakulam, currently in Germany. He has been awarded PhD by Alpen-Adria University, Klagenfurt, in Austria in the dissertation topic on “effective integration of traditional Indian medicine among general practitioners in Germany”, which is learnt to be the first PhD by an Ayurvedic doctor from India in an Ayurvedic topic awarded by a University in Europe. Dr Kumar who has been practising in Germany for the last 14 years, has been instrumental in stitching a tie-up between the University Duisburg –Essen, Kliniken Essen Mitte, Germany and the Vaidyaratnam PS Varier Ayurveda College Kottackal recently to start the first course in Ayurveda for modern medicine doctors.

He is the head of the department for Indian medicine at University Duisburg –Essen since 2009. He completed a complementary medical course from Germany which paved the way in practising Ayurvedic medicine officially there, and he helped to start an Ayurvedic department in the university. He was also instrumental in setting up the only medical university based Ayurvedic course for doctors in Germany. “The aim of my PhD thesis was to integrate the Ayurvedic system with other medical systems in Germany. The need of standardising Ayurveda in Europe, especially in Germany, is very much important for its effective integration. A proposal in this regard has been placed before the Government of India,” says Dr Syal.

He has researched in various fields in Ayurveda in Germany and has international publications to his credit in peer-reviewed journals. Prof .G Dobos, Professor of integrative medicine, University Duisburg –Essen, said Dr Syal’s achievements were commendable. “Meanwhile a collaborative clinical research program on psoriasis is on the anvil. This is an excellent opportunity for Ayurveda and for Kerala in promoting evidence-based Ayurvedic medicine in the western world,” said Dr Kumar. His grandfather Kumaran Vaidyan was a famous Ayurvedic practitioner as also his father, Dr Jayakumar. Before going to Germany, he completed his BAMS from Arya Vaidya Pharmacy, Coimbatore and MD from Rajiv Gandhi University, Bangalore.