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Pondomatti SC, Tyagi I, Shrivastava KK, Mahajan S, Patel J, Shinde MA. A Literature Review of the Integration of Ancient Indian Mythology in Clinical Medicine: A Holistic Approach to Health and Healing. Cureus 2024; 16:e63779. [PMID: 39099985 PMCID: PMC11297191 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.63779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The fusion of mythology and ancient Indian medicine, particularly Ayurveda, is a fascinating synthesis of cultural heritage and scientific endeavor. Ayurveda encompasses a wide range of practices, including pharmacology, anatomy, physiology, surgery, and obstetrics, and integrates the rich tapestry of Hindu mythology, providing a comprehensive understanding of health and disease. The inclusion of mythological figures and narratives in the discourse of ancient Indian medicine offers a unique perspective on the integration of spiritual and empirical knowledge, highlighting the role of mythology in shaping the foundational principles of clinical medicine. The discourse explores the profound impact of Ayurveda and its mythological underpinnings on contemporary clinical practices, underscoring the timeless wisdom embedded in ancient narratives. These stories represent the bedrock of holistic medical practices, emphasizing the parity between mind, body, and spirit that is increasingly validated in modern therapeutic paradigms. The philosophy and methods detailed in the age-old texts of Sushruta and Charaka, coupled with the allegorical tales of Dhanvantari and Bharadwaja, contribute significantly to the foundational principles underpinning today's holistic medical approaches. The enduring legacy of Ayurveda and its mythological narratives continues to influence and inspire a holistic approach to health care, underscoring the indelible connection between ancient wisdom and modern medical practices.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ishaan Tyagi
- Internal Medicine, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre, Pune, IND
| | | | - Swati Mahajan
- Physiology, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society Medical College, Godhra, IND
| | - Jitendra Patel
- Physiology, Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society Medical College, Vadnagar, IND
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Sánchez L, Koulidobrova H. World Health Organization myth busters and indigenous perceptions of COVID-19: Quechua and Shipibo communities. AMPERSAND (OXFORD, UK) 2023; 10:100118. [PMID: 37155502 PMCID: PMC10111860 DOI: 10.1016/j.amper.2023.100118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
When the COVID (SARS-V2) pandemic swept across the world, it impacted Indigenous communities more than others. This is due to a variety of reasons: socioeconomic injustice and racialization, lack of access to equitable healthcare, and linguistic discrimination. As a result, several communities and community types demonstrated this effect when perceptions of inferences or other COVID-related information were measured. This paper reports on a participatory collaborative study with two Indigenous communities in rural Peru-ten Quechua-speaking communities in Southern Cuzco and three Shipibo-speaking communities in Ucayali regions. We investigate the communities' level of preparedness for the crisis by eliciting answers based on the World Health Organization COVID 'MythBusters' in a form of a semi-structured interview. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and analyzed in search of the effect of three variables: gender (male/female), language group (Shipibo/Quechua), and proficiency in the Indigenous language (from 0 to 4). Data reveal that all three variables have some effect on the target comprehension of COVID-related messages. Additionally, we explore other possible explanations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana Sánchez
- University of Illinois Chicago, Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies, 601 S. Morgan St., 1722 UH Chicago, IL, 60607, USA
| | - Helen Koulidobrova
- Central Connecticut State University, Department of English, Willard 404-06 1615 Stanley St., New Britain, CT, 06050, USA
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Grant J, Grant L. Quality and constructed knowledge: Truth, paradigms, and the state of the science. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2023; 57:23-30. [PMID: 35803477 DOI: 10.1111/medu.14871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT AND TRUTH Education is a social science. Social science knowledge is related to its context of origin. The concept of global 'truth' in education is therefore of limited use when truth is tempered by context. The wider applicability of our knowledge can only be judged if we look at the context in which that knowledge was produced and the assumptions that underpin it. This calls into question the idea that educational research is a quest for global 'truth', although in relation to programme evaluation, truth tied to context is an aim. An analysis is presented of the effects of social construction on research and evaluation processes, on the selection of paradigms, reporting and interpreting findings, and on the ethics of all this. QUALITY AND IMPROVEMENT Quality improvement is based on information selected, constructed and interpreted by those who gather, analyse or use it. The strength, and not the weakness, of our knowledge is that it is socially constructed, contextual and of its time. Increasingly looking for our own truth about educational quality, and not importing the truth of others, is crucial to the state of the science. In terms of quality development, using others' findings must be based on informed local judgement. In social science, those judgements are linked to social context and their associated ideologies. IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE WORK The hallmark of social science is not a narrowing of focus and the search for one truth, but is a broadening of concepts, theories, paradigms, reported experience and method, and an intention for each to tell their own truth well. This will lead to a wealth of diverse views and analysed experience. The science of medical education must seek many truths.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet Grant
- Centre for Medical Education in Context (CenMEDIC), London, UK
| | - Leonard Grant
- Centre for Medical Education in Context (CenMEDIC), London, UK
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Eveland AP, Wilhelm SR, Wong S, Prado LG, Barsky SH. A preliminary study of the probitive value of personality assessment in medical school admissions within the United States. BMC MEDICAL EDUCATION 2022; 22:890. [PMID: 36564835 PMCID: PMC9783971 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-022-03901-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Allopathic medicine faces a daunting challenge of selecting the best applicants because of the very high applicant / matriculant ratio. The quality of graduates ultimately reflects the quality of medical practice. Alarming recent trends in physician burnout, misconduct and suicide raise questions of whether we are selecting the right candidates. The United States (US) lags far behind the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe in the study of non-cognitive tests in medical school admissions. Although more recently, medical schools in both the UK, Europe and the US have begun to use situational judgement tests such as the Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer) and the situational judgement test (SJT), recently developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and that these tests are, in a sense non-cognitive in nature, direct personality tests per se have not been utilized. We have historically used, in the admissions process within the US, knowledge, reasoning and exam performance, all of which are largely influenced by intelligence and also improved with practice. Personality, though also undoubtedly influenced by intelligence, is fundamentally different and subject to different kinds of measurements. METHODS A popular personality measurement used over the past two decades within the US in business and industry, but not medical school has been the Neo Personality Inventory - Revised (NEO-PI-R) Test. This test has not been utilized regularly in allopathic medicine probably because of the paucity of exploratory retrospective and validating prospective studies. The hypothesis which we tested was whether NEO-PI-R traits exhibited consistency between two institutions and whether their measurements showed probative value in predicting academic performance. RESULTS Our retrospective findings indicated both interinstitutional consistencies and both positive and negative predictive values for certain traits whose correlative strengths exceeded traditional premed metrics: medical college admission test (MCAT) scores, grade point average (GPA), etc. for early academic performance. CONCLUSIONS Our exploratory studies should catalyze larger and more detailed confirmatory studies designed to validate the importance of personality traits not only in predicting early medical school performance but also later performance in one's overall medical career.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Peter Eveland
- Department of Medical Education, Cancer Center and Institute for Personalized Medicine, California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), 1501 Violet Street, Colton, CA, 92324, USA
| | - Sabrina R Wilhelm
- Department of Medical Education, Cancer Center and Institute for Personalized Medicine, California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), 1501 Violet Street, Colton, CA, 92324, USA
| | - Stephanie Wong
- Department of Medical Education, Cancer Center and Institute for Personalized Medicine, California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), 1501 Violet Street, Colton, CA, 92324, USA
| | - Lissett G Prado
- Department of Medical Education, Cancer Center and Institute for Personalized Medicine, California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), 1501 Violet Street, Colton, CA, 92324, USA
| | - Sanford H Barsky
- Department of Medical Education, Cancer Center and Institute for Personalized Medicine, California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), 1501 Violet Street, Colton, CA, 92324, USA.
- Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology and the Clinical and Translational Research Center of Excellence, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard, Nashville, TN, 37208, USA.
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Balmer DF, Richards BF. Conducting qualitative research through time: how might theory be useful in longitudinal qualitative research? ADVANCES IN HEALTH SCIENCES EDUCATION : THEORY AND PRACTICE 2022; 27:277-288. [PMID: 34460054 DOI: 10.1007/s10459-021-10068-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This paper explores the use of theory in longitudinal qualitative research, an approach to research which explores lived experiences as they unfold. The authors illustrate how the complexity of conducting qualitative research through time drives an understanding and use of theory that differs from other research approaches. Longitudinal qualitative research considers time as fluid, subjective, and unbounded-in contrast to the more common taken-for-granted understanding of time as fixed, objective, and linear. Furthermore, longitudinal qualitative research is predicated on a premise of trust in the context of enduring research relationships. Therefore, while subject-matter theories used to investigate topics of interest to health professions educators may be useful frameworks for other types of research, longitudinal qualitative research needs theories that accommodate the myriad of changes in lived experiences through time. The authors share their decade-long, longitudinal qualitative research story, highlighting their decision points and insights. In doing so, they foreground issues such as time as fluid as an important contribution to health professions education literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorene F Balmer
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Boulevard, 9NW 72, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Boyd F Richards
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
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Brown J, Nestel D. Theories and myths in medical education: What is valued and who is served? MEDICAL EDUCATION 2020; 54:4-6. [PMID: 31849097 DOI: 10.1111/medu.14003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- James Brown
- Monash Institute of Health and Clinical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Eastern Victoria GP Training, Churchill, Victoria, Australia
| | - Debra Nestel
- Monash Institute of Health and Clinical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Kulasegaram KM, Eva KW. Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2020; 54:2-3. [PMID: 31849096 DOI: 10.1111/medu.14022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kulamakan M Kulasegaram
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Kevin W Eva
- Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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