INSTITUTES CONTRIBUTION TO THE MEDICINE OF HIPPOCRATES, GALEN, AND IBN SINA

Abstract

The training of doctors in this system of medicine in South Africa, was introduced by the Ibn Sina Institute of Tibb under the name of Tibb (Arabic word for Medicine), after obtaining academic support from universities in India and Pakistan, where this system is trained and practiced under the name of Unani Medicine. The Institute identified concerns with respect to the terminology of humours, the limited information on identifying temperament with respect to predisposition to illness conditions as well as the lack of relationship between the principles of physis, temperament, humours, and lifestyle factors. This paper highlights the contribution of the Institute, based on various research projects conducted between 2003 and 2020. The results of the research projects contributed positively to the humoral and temperamental theories as well as the relationship between an individual and the environment within the context of Lifestyle Factors. More significantly the relationship between the principles of physis, humours, temperament, and lifestyle factors within the context of aetiology, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment have also been clarified. The Institutes contribution to this system of medicine has facilitated the development of the training material at both a 5-year Undergraduate Degree and a 1-year Postgraduate Diploma (for diagnostic healthcare professionals) to be trained as doctors of the Medicine of Hippocrates, Galen, and Ibn Sina – also known as Tibb.