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It was in December 2018, in India, in Coimbatore, that the three co-founders, Charles Nicollerat, Simone Hunziker and U. Indulal met for the first time all three together, knowing that the latter two were already working together for many years. From that moment and for almost two and a half years, they will gradually pave the path that will lead, on August 19, 2021, to the founding of SwissMed School.
In 2004, Simone Hunziker started the first professional school for Ayurvedic therapists based in Switzerland, training more than 150 therapists in twelve years. In 2009, a new structure was created, under the name of SAMA-Swiss Ayurvedic Medical Academy, to consolidate the development of the training offer by adding training in Ayurveda medicine. Working part-time from India, Dr. Simone Hunziker will engage SAMA in several close partnerships with major Indian institutions in order to develop high level training and clinical practice in Ayurveda medicine within the academy. SAMA will organize training seminars in the partner institutions from 2012 onwards.
Dr. Simone Hunziker and Dr. U. Indulal have been collaborating since 2010. At that time, SAMA had entered a partnership with AVP in India. Under the auspices of P.R. Krishna Kumar Varier, managing director and mythical figure of this leading Indian institution, and of whom both are disciples, they are working on the preparation of a training program in Ayurveda medicine, which will become MedVaidya, with Dr U. Indulal as its Program Director and Dr S. Hunziker as its program supervisor.
Their common vision is to contribute to the promotion of Ayurveda as a medical system by an elite trained according to authentic principles and equipped to work in contemporary health systems. In order to grant Swiss and international students access to a high level of training, they rely on Swiss regulations and WHO guidelines as well as on reference institutions in India.
In 2015, after three years of preparation, the first batch of students started the MedVaidya training program in Ayurveda Medicine. This professional training program, aiming at preparing students for the Swiss federal diploma, allows them to officially practice Ayurveda medicine in Switzerland and to be reimbursed by health insurance companies. The program distinguished itself since its inception from other training programs offered in Europe, by its density and volume, inspired by the university curriculum of Ayurvedic medicine in India, as well as by its quest for authenticity and its close collaboration with India.
During the second semester of 2018, the SAMA institution is going through a major internal reassessment calling for a transformation in the form of a quantum loop in a moment of maturity, corresponding to the end of a pioneering era of Ayurveda in Europe and in Switzerland. In a regulatory environment under construction, both in terms of the recognition of Ayurvedic medicine within the Swiss health system, as well as the regulation of the products necessary for its practice, and the implementation of the processes of validation of diplomas and school certifications, the age-old science of Ayurveda is coming to meet the world of today, to gradually become an integral part of it.
It is at this moment that Charles Nicollerat, by coincidence, crossed paths with Simone Hunziker. This meeting quickly became one of convergence of views and complementary skills.
After their meeting in December 2018, Simone Hunziker, U. Indulal and Charles Nicollerat decide to join forces to first assess the pilot phase of the MedVaidya training. In the summer of 2019, as the pioneer students reach the end of their training (100% success rate in the exam under the Swiss authorities), important work is initiated to improve the structure of the academic concept of MedVaidya and enrich its content.
These first students, as courageous as their teachers, have crossed a thousand obstacles to progress on the path that will lead those who want it, to obtain the Swiss federal diploma of naturopathic practitioner specialized in Ayurveda. Behind this complex title, we are talking about an Ayurveda primary care practitioner, reimbursed by complementary health insurance. A major step following a Swiss popular vote that took place a little less than ten years earlier, according to which the constitution opened the door, amongst others, to the medical system of Ayurveda in Switzerland. A revolution.
But any revolution requires adaptations. Charles Nicollerat brought a fresh perspective and initiated two parallel movements that would mark the project as a whole: the reshaping of the program’s deployment and of the offer, and a profound organizational restructuring.
The MedVaidya program is proving to be relevant and powerful. The challenge of taking up the task in the context of the global health scenario has been met by the students and the school. While evolving at the pace of confinements and adaptation through the new program, the experience shows that the original vision and its development over time, as ambitious as they are, are achievable and bear the expected fruits. In quality, in level, in involvement, in satisfaction.
However, it must become more widely accessible in terms of scheduling and planning, to allow students from all over the world to participate. The principle of inverted classrooms, e-learning and peer-instruction, which Simone Hunziker has been working on for a long time, is implemented by the design of an innovative didactic and pedagogical approach, the 7DD, designed by Charles Nicollerat. 7DD means “seven dimensional didactics”, the first of which is the student – including the introduction of student assistance through mentoring and coaching or the use of state-of-the-art technological and computer tools – energize the new MedVaidya training. It spans several modules covering Ayurveda and the fundamentals of modern medicine.
Created for MedVaidya, the 7DD proves to be a concept in itself, which can be applied to other trainings. In the same vein, the multidisciplinary approach intrinsic to the MedVaidya program (modern medicine – traditional medicine) echoes the growing need expressed by all health actors to develop integrative medicine and complementary therapeutic approaches so that the patient benefits from the best mix. Finally, the multiple skills and complementary disciplines of the MedVaidya program, such as yoga, Sanskrit, or management, show the importance and the place that must be given to several disciplines and expertise to reach the level of excellence of the training.
On its way to maturity, SAMA covers in 2018 a professional school, a medical center for Ayurveda and the marketing of products necessary for therapeutic prescriptions. The needs are great, the structure small. The decision is therefore taken to split this ensemble by creating new legal structures. The medical care and the products will each have their own structure, their offer, and their management. The school too.
The MedVaidya program alone has provided the ingredients and shown the needs for a professional higher education in the field of plural, traditional, integrative, and modern health care.
From this moment on, the way is open to the preparation of a structure specific to the school exclusively, capable of meeting future challenges and accommodating a wide range of skills and disciplines.
Inspired by the scientific and philosophical principles and approaches of Ayurveda, nourished by SAMA’s academic background, called by the needs of the actors of tomorrow’s health, a school integrating several faculties, alongside the Ayurveda, can now become a reality.
Thus, in a vision of integrative and plural medicine, Dr. Simone Hunziker, Dr. U. Indulal and Charles Elie Nicollerat have decided to create a brand-new school and to found together the SwissMed School in August 2021.
The first batch of students of the new MedVaidya program, which started in the fall of 2020 under the auspices of SAMA, is transferred to the new Ayurveda department of SwissMed School.
Expertise and transversality are the key words in the structure and functioning of the SwissMed School. Each department, and its Director, develop specific programs on the one hand, and participate in the programs of the other faculties, when their skills are requested and relevant. In other words, each department alternatively offers its own programs of education or acts as a specialized service provider for other departments.
One of the key concerns of the co-founders is thus satisfied: no dilution of skills, no mixing of expertise. Everyone is a master in his or her own discipline, and together they exchange and create a web of complementary and expert knowledge. This is the path to excellence.