Traditional medical education to soon incorporate AI electives

Traditional medical education to soon incorporate AI electives

AI tools can make ayurveda knowledge and services more widely accessible, reaching global audiences 

Ayushi.Gupta1@timesofindia.com 17.03.2025

The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga, and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) is set to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) curricula to revolutionise the Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). To equip students with both foundational knowledge of ISM and the skills to incorporate modern technological advancements, the ministry is working on formulating a benchmark framework to offer AI as one of the elective subjects. 

To implement the plan, the ministry has been evaluating the sector’s readiness for AI, creating a standardised framework for AI system integration, and developing AI educational tools. Creating a benchmark A framework is needed to integrate AI into traditional medicines to make it scientifically validated, efficient, and globally recognised. The ministry has collaborated with global focus groups to develop benchmarks for AI usage in traditional medicines. Talking to Education Times, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, says, “The Centre of Excellence (CoE) component of the Ayurswasthya Yojana, a project sanctioned to IIT Jodhpur, aims to combine functional genomics, electronics, digital health, and AI to realise evidence based ayurvedic solutions. 

The CoE will provide technological solutions for understanding and applying ayurveda’s principles and practices—P5 medicine: Personalised, Preventive, Predictive, Participatory, and Promotive—as well as integrative medicine, including environmental response and disease development.” Integrating AI in ayurveda can enhance diagnostic accuracy, personalised treatment planning, research efforts, and healthcare delivery, says Pooja Sabharwal, assistant professor, Govt of NCT of Delhi. “Training students in traditional medicine to provide AIenabled public health services alongside their core curriculum can empower them to deliver more comprehensive and effective care, contribute to improved health outcomes, and adapt to the evolving healthcare landscape. 

With AI algorithms, students can identify patterns and correlations in complex datasets, such as ayurvedic diagnostic criteria, symptoms, and treatment outcomes. Analysing these patterns through AI allows it to assist ayurvedic practitioners in diagnosing diseases more accurately and predicting the efficacy of various treatment modalities,” she adds. Moreover, AI can enhance various aspects of education and healthcare, particularly in the context of ayurveda and traditional medicine. 

“AI can automate administrative tasks, assist in curriculum development, and provide real-time feedback to educators, allowing them to focus more on mentorship and teaching. AI-driven platforms can also make ayurveda knowledge and services more widely accessible, reaching global audiences,” adds Kotecha. In 2017, the ministry launched AYUSH Grid, an initiative to integrate technology with traditional medicine systems like ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha, and homeopathy. Through the Grid, students are trained in modern technologies to improve healthcare services such as accessibility, quality, and efficiency. Kotecha says, “Students are already using the AYUSH Learning Management System (e-LMS) under AYUSH Grid, where AI-driven analytics are being developed.” 

Strengthening research Incorporating AI into research methodology courses will enable students to conduct data-driven research in ayurveda, says Vaidya Rabinarayan Acharya, director general, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS). He says, “The regulatory body of AYUSH education, the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), is taking steps to strengthen the research system. The implementation of AI-integrated education at universities and colleges can take several forms. For example, developing a curriculum with dedicated courses on data science, AI, and machine learning, tailored to ayurvedic studies, including their application in traditional medicine research and practice.”