INTEGRATING AYURVEDIC EPISTEMOLOGY FRAMEWORK IN TO ANATOMY EDUCATION IN KERALA: A GUNA BASED PEDAGOGICAL MODEL WITH OSPE BASED OUTCOME ASSESSMENT

Abstract

The teaching of gross anatomy to students of Āyurveda in India is largely done within a biomedical paradigm with minor reference to the classical description in the foundational Saṃhitās. A three part integrative pedagogical approach for gross anatomy based on the Śārīrasthāna of the Suśruta Samhitā is presented and tested by the author. The first part is a laboratory recreation of Suśruta's hydro-dissection technique, which involved immersing the parts in water for an appropriate duration and gently brushing them so as to make the anatomy visible to the eye (pratyakṣa). The second part is a more analytical approach to visceral organs and tissues with a guṇa-centred framework, reasoned upon by anumāna (inference), upamāna (analogy) and āgama (authoritative testimony) and is presented by a case analysis of medodhātu (adipose tissue). The third part is evaluating the learning outcomes through an OSPE comprising stations aligned to each pramana domain, with results indicating significantly higher student proficiency in correlating direct observation, inference, and classical textual knowledge of structural guna. The author's argument is that a synthesis of experiential and observation-based techniques and a guṇa-oriented conceptual framework is a possible model for teaching anatomy which does not subordinate the classic Āyurvedic perspective to biomedical description.