About Systems Health®

We can look at the human body in different ways. Modern medicine has taken the approach of understanding the body by studying its individual parts (molecules, cells, tissues, organs, etc.) in a highly specialized manner. This effort has provided humankind with enormous benefits such as antibiotics, advanced surgical techniques, and molecular medicine. Another approach is to view the body as a whole and study its holistic interaction with the environment, internally and externally. This is the approach of ancient systems of medicine such as Siddha, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which have benefited billions of people for thousands of years.

The Gap in Integrative Medicine

Over the years, modern medicine and ancient systems of medicine have worked in parallel, each in a world unto their own. Recently, pioneers in the field of integrative medicine have been working to bring together practitioners trained in conventional allopathic medicine with those trained in complementary or traditional healing systems. The ultimate goal is to integrate these unique modalities in order to accelerate and expand our ability to prevent and heal disease, as well as enhance wellbeing. While these efforts are important, many conventionally trained M.D.’s have been reluctant to fully embrace this new field because in many cases, there is little evidence-based scientific research to validate the benefits of complementary health practices. In short, the lack of a core scientific foundation for integrative medicine has prevented its potential benefits from reaching many people who could be helped by an integrative approach.

Systems Health® – An Educational Program Bridging Science and Tradition

Systems Health®, developed by MIT-trained systems scientist and educator, Dr. VA Shiva, Ph.D., provides the core scientific foundation, based on modern systems theory, to bridge the worlds of East and West, ancient and modern, and science and tradition. Systems Health provides the “integration” for integrative medicine.

The aim of Systems Health is three-fold:

1. Provide conventionally trained M.D.’s with a scientific foundation that will give them confidence in the validity and value of ancient and complementary systems of medicine, which they can then judiciously integrate into their practice; and,
2. Provide healthcare practitioners of complementary or traditional healing practices (such as chiropractic, acupuncture, and other modalities), the scientific training to communicate effectively with their conventionally trained counterparts as well as with their patients, conveying how their modalities are in alignment with modern scientific medical practices.
3. Educate anyone interested in their health or on the field of health in general, on the scientific, systems-based foundations of eastern and traditional medicine, and to set them up with an infrastructure where they can practice what they have learned.