title: Knowledge level of Ayurveda practitioner on public health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Looking at the current scenario of shortage of public health professionals on one hand and intense demand of community health services on the other it is imperative that the contribution of Ayurveda practitioners is increased in the field of public health. However, the updating of the knowledge of public health issues and concepts will ultimately decide whether they can be successfully integrated into the community health arena or not.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to assess the knowledge level of Ayurveda practitioners about public health Issues with the aim find out the competence of Ayurveda practitioners regarding knowledge of public health issues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study was conducted in the union territory, Chandigarh and two districts each of the states of Haryana and Punjab. Public health knowledge assessment tool comprising a questionnaire was used to collect information from the respondents who were registered Ayurveda doctors and interns. The data was analyzed with the help of IBM SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solutions).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The respondents scored between 5 and 17 points out of a total of 19 points and majority (82%) of the respondents fell in the category of "having average knowledge". The mean score was 8.42 ± 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Curriculum and training of Ayurveda education need to have more public health related inputs and hence that the Ayurveda practitioners are well-versed with the public health concepts and could contribute in the public health field meaningfully.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Jaideep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Academic Staff College, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Jayanti Dutta
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: Amarjeet Singh
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Minhas
keywords: Ayurveda practitioners; public health; public health professionals; public health skills