Dr Ashok Borkar’s intensive Goa workshop transforms young homoeopaths into confident practitioners — by teaching them what medical college doesn’t. The aim of the workshop was to equip budding homeopaths with the skills and confidence necessary to start their own practice. The workshop was a huge success with many of the participants reporting that now they were in a better position to manage both …
Dr Ashok Borkar’s intensive Goa workshop transforms young homoeopaths into confident practitioners — by teaching them what medical college doesn’t.
The aim of the workshop was to equip budding homeopaths with the skills and confidence necessary to start their own practice. The workshop was a huge success with many of the participants reporting that now they were in a better position to manage both regular and complicated health issues. Dr Borkar taught the participants effective techniques refined by him in 36 years of his practice and prepared them for success in their careers.
1. Starting Out:
Q. What is the most important mindset or skill a young homeopath should have before seeing their first patient?
A. The most important mindset a young homeopath should have is a strong belief in the curative power of homeopathy. This adds to their confidence and patients always feel more secure when they are in the hands of a confident physician. And confidence in the practitionerresults in the patient opening up and trusting the homeopath and his course of treatment.
The most important skill is having a good technique for case taking, because a case well taken is 80 % of the work done.
2. Case taking:
Q. How can beginners improve their case taking and observation skills to truly understand a patient?
A. Firstly, they should have a good understanding of the method of case taking advocated by the past masters of homeopathy and then apply this in practice. The best way to improve case taking skills is by sitting in with an experienced homeopath and observe how he/she works.Only from observation of cases being taken, can a beginner master the technique of case taking.
3. Remedy Selection:
Q. Many remedies seem similar in the books – What’s the best way to learn remedy differentiation in real practice?
A. While many remedies do indeed look very similar, the genius of the remedy is unique.
The term ‘genius’ signifies the most outstanding feature of the remedy or the common thread which runs through different pathogenetic symptoms complexes mentioned in that remedy. New practitioners should focus their efforts on getting to know the genius of each remedy.The genius of the remedy can be found in ‘Allens keynotes’, ‘The synoptic key of materia medica’ by Boger and in the first few lines of the remedy pathogenesis written in Boericke’s and Phatak’s materiamedica. The genius of the remedy must match the genius of the patient.
The ‘genius’ includes the pathological process, modalities, physical generals and characteristic mental symptoms of the patient and these symptoms should match with those of the remedy. For example, if the patient has affection of serous membranes, is worse by least motion, sensitive to heat with thirst for large quantity of water at long intervals and gets irritated when disturbed in his activity then he needs the remedy Bryonia because these are the genius symptoms of Bryonia and not any other remedy.
4. Confidence Building:
Q. How can a new practitioner build self confidencewhenprescribing, especially in difficult or chronic cases?
A. The best way is by sitting in with a senior homeopath and watching how they work and prescribe.
5. Mentorship:
Q. Do you recommend working under an experienced homeopath before starting independent practice?
A. Absolutely required. An experienced homeopath can also help mentor a new homeopath by assisting with the management of difficult cases.
6. Dealing with Doubt:
Q. How should we handle criticism or skepticism from people who don’t believe in homeopathy?
A. Most critics and skeptics have no true knowledge of homeopathy. Some of the greatest homeopaths in our history started off as skeptics and researched homeopathy to prove that it did not work. Instead, they ended up developing a strong respect for the profession and then became the greatest advocates of homeopathy.One such allopathic physician was Dr. MahendralalSarkar who was commissioned by his teachers and colleagues to write a critique against homeopathy to expose it is as unscientific. In order to do that, he conducted an in-depth study of homeopathy, and in the process, he became convinced of it’s benefits and eventually became a homeopath himself. He is now known as the pioneer of homeopathy in India.
When skeptics criticize, it should be brought to their notice that observation of facts speaks louder than theorizing. Invite them to sit in a homeopathic clinic and ask them to observe how so-called incurable cases get cured with homeopathic treatment on a regular basis.
7. Patient Management:
Q. What are some practical tips for communicating effectively with patients and setting realistic expectations?
A. Most patients that consult with homeopaths, have long standing complaints. It is important to inform the patient that the treatment will take a few months because the homeopath will be prescribing a course of medicineswith each homeopathic medicine taking them towards cure. It is important to educate the patient about the parameters used to judge the process of cure. For example, a patient suffering from migraine should be told in advance that we expect a progressive reduction in the intensity, duration and frequency of the headaches till the headaches stop completely. An acute episode of headache will be relieved immediately but it takes time to remove the tendency completely. The patient should also be made aware of the Hering’s law of direction of cure which states, “ Cure always takes place from above downwards, from inside outwards, from organs of more vital importance to the ones of lesser importance and in the reverse order of appearance of the symptoms.”
8. Common Mistakes:
Q. What are the common mistakes new homeopaths make in their early years, and how can we avoid them?
A. The most common mistake is that they don’t write the history in the exact expressions of the patient. This can lead to misinterpretation of facts. Another common mistake is that they interrupt the patient with questions instead of first hearing them out completely. The result is incomplete data acquisition. One more mistake is that they ask leading questions; questions which can be answered by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ instead of telling the patient to describe their complaints in detail. This often leads to a distorted case record which can lead to the selection of an ineffective remedy.
9. Learning Continuously:
Q. Beyond college textbooks, what resources or authors do you think every homeopath should study regularly?
A. Every homeopath should read details of cases treated by the pillars of homeopathy like Hahnemann, Burnett, Boger, Kent and Clarke. P. Sankaran’s writings from the book, ‘ Elements of homeopathy’ is a gold mine of clinically useful knowledge.
Attending seminars, webinars and workshops of teachers who consistently achieve good results in practice is of great benefit to every homeopath.
10. Ethics and Future Vision:
Q. In your view, what role will homeopathy play in future healthcare, and how can young doctors strengthen its credibility?
A. People are now becoming more aware about the importance of natural, safe, gentle and holistic healing and they are looking towards homeopathy for solutions to their chronic health problems. Young doctors should equip themselves with all the tools necessary to handle this expectation. For this purpose, they must keep abreast of the developments that are taking place in modern medicine and should be well versed with the latest technology. This will help them in having a better understanding of the patient and his disease. They should regularly hone their skills by attending clinically useful seminars and webinars.
Homeopathy will then rightfully become the first line of treatment in the years to come and this will be a significant development towards healing humanity.
Ashok Borkar
Founder of “Block Busters in homoeopathy”, a technique designed to overcome the blocks faced in the practice of homoeopathy.
M.D. (Homeopathy, Repertory)
Teacher and consultant physician at “The other song international academy of advanced homoeopathy”, Mumbai.
Director of clinical training for “The British institute of homoeopathy”, New Jersey, USA.
Author of the internationally acclaimed books:
1. Pathology factor in remedy selection
2. Diabetes repertory
Known for teaching the Homoeopathic management of pathologically advanced cases.
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