Need for an integrated system of medicine-a proposal for its attainment

Integration of various systems of medicine is in the best interest of all concerned. It enables the physician to provide the best available therapeutic care to the patient without undue delay, making way for a better prognosis. It also makes available to him a greater variety of treatment measures hitherto restricted to one or the other system. Integration must be achieved at the theoretical level first by pooling together the facts available in the existing systems. From this pooled data must be formulated newer integrated concepts of human being, illness, etiology and treatment. It is not difficult to achieve such integrations for their already exist certain similarities among the prevalent systems of medicine. This will help to translate ancient wisdom into practice and find proper orientation to modern discoveries. Therefore the adherents of various systems must sink their differences and strive to develop an integrated system of medicineThe entire world is the teacher to the intelligent and the foe to the unintelligent. Caraka Vimana 8/14.