Interview Dynamis: Holland
Rajesh Shah
At the Riga conferenceFrans van Rooijeninformally met a leading Indian homeopath, Dr Rajesh Shah, MD. Fransgatheredsome insight into the very professional way of Rajesh’ homeopathic practice, PR, and research.
Rajesh works as a medically trained homeopath since 1985. He and his wife Rupal have a homeopathic center called Life Force in Mumbai. Interestingly, Rajesh has been deeply involved in, what he calls as ‘four pillars of my work’, viz. practice, research, training homeopaths, and homeopathy promotion.
He is a thorough professional homeopath; which can be understood by the fact that his clinic is a corporate entity. He has several teams of professionals working for him, giving shape to his vision; which includes not only 30 full-time homeopaths but also engineers (IT), management and finance graduates, conventional medical researchers as well. Rajesh works with his teams for his four pillars of work, which he emphasizes, are interlinked.
Talking about his homeopathic practice, Rajesh receives patients from not only from all across India but also from all the continents. Rajesh is the homeopath who treats patients from the highest number of countries; from 177 different countries. He treats doctors, scientists, film-stars, poor people as well as the family of the past-president of the US. Rajesh contributes to the global spread of success to invent the Internet. He has almost pioneered online homeopathic (medical) practice since 1995, which is now followed by many practitioners.
Science
By communicating with Rajesh, I realized that he is a homeopathy scientist. He does not believe in whimsical methods of prescribing which are based on individual interpretation of cases. He showed concern about the rising of non-scientific methods, which, according to him are responsible for the non-acceptance of homeopathy today. Rajesh says that ‘uncertainty’ is the biggest challenge that we have in homeopathy. “How can we use fancy methods of prescribing which escalate uncertainty?” he asks. He works mostly with the polychrests. “With two hundred to two hundred fifty remedies we can cure 80% of the clients,“ he states.
Research in homeopathy using conventional medical research methods in the area of interest for Rajesh. At Life Force, he has some ongoing clinical trials. All the cases treated at his clinic are scientifically documented, and statistics are generated. On the homeopathic treatment of Vitiligo, for instance, he has convincing research on 4500 cases.
Interestingly, Rajesh is working on some new homeopathic medicines and he has been granted patents for his research work. Two of his ‘gifts’, as he calls it, to the world is HIV and Hepatitis C nosodes. He has also developed a scientific and revised method of nosode preparation, which he presented at the Riga Conference. Rajesh has conducted seminars in many countries. Due to his pre-occupation with practice and research, he has stopped teaching for the last ten years.
Promotion of homeopathy
The promotion of homeopathy is one of his interests. He has launched 25 websites discussing the role of homeopathy for various diseases. For instance, urticaria.com, lichenplanus.com, e-psoriasis.com, etc. (Check the complete list at www.RajeshShah.com) It is fascinating to learn that anyone can ask for free advise on the role of homeopathy for ones ailment to Rajesh’s team of doctors. He and his team have given free advice on homeopathy to over a million people since the birth of the Internet. There are some self-assessment tools, presentations, etc. developed by his in-house IT team. If you are a Mac user, you can download AskDrShah, a mobile (iPhone, iPad) application, offering information about homeopathy.
Life Force is a paperless clinic. The entire case-taking and data storage is online. Remarkably, every patient treated by Rajesh has an online account with Life Force, which the patient can access anytime. The account has all the medical information, scanned medical reports, disease photos, etc. which can be accessed by Rajesh, his doctors, other staff as well as the patients, from any computer or mobile phone. Every patient has to sign up a contract for treatment of at least 4 to 12 months, paying in advance; which allows enough time to produce results.
He works on difficult and challenging but not critical (severely acute) cases. Rajesh says, “The strength of homeopathy is not acute or critical conditions such as severe infections, renal failure, cerebral malaria, etc. Homeopathy is more effective for chronic and recurring diseases such as asthma, lichen planus, urticaria, migraines, psoriasis, frequent tonsillitis, fibromyalgia, etc. Any homeopath can consult me for professional help for one's patients. Homeopaths need to define the scope and limitations of homeopathy, for better success rate.“
I asked Rajesh to give some tips on how to make successful practices. “What I can say based on my experience is that if you want success for yourself; you will have to work for the system (homeopathy). You cannot get success in seclusion. Homeopathy is passing through a struggling phase, simply due to a lack of scientific teachings and research. Broad vision, scientific attitude, sound medical knowledge, full-time commitment to the practice, use of technology, and honesty can make homeopaths successful.”
He further says, “Homeopaths need to enhance their own confidence in homeopathy by applying scientific methods to obtain predictable results in most cases, by almost all homeopaths. This, in turn, will help patients have more confidence in homeopaths; leading to more success in practice. Try to make professional setup in your clinic, be available for long hours, (8 hours a day, ideally), making homeopathy as a full-time career, for better success.”
Rajesh can be contacted at rajesh@rajeshshah.com. His websites are: www.RajeshShah.com, www.AskDrShah.com
Frans van Rooijen
Medicina Futura NJH Clever Holland Mumbai Mirror The Homeopath Keralite magazine Italian Journal Vital informer
