Homeopathic Education in Romania

Homeopathic education in Romania is connected with the existence of the Romanian Society of Homeopathy SRH, so a few words about the history of SRH and the history of homeopathy in our country should be said in the beginning.

The history of homeopathy in Romania is directly connected with the personality of the founder of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann who lived in Romania, in Sibiu- Hermannstadt for 1 year and 9 months, from 1777 till 1779.

In 1947, the Romanian Society of Homeopathy was created, that officialized the  profession of homeopathy in Romania, but homeopathy had already existed in the Romanian Principates, since 1843.

Among the founding members of the Society, we can enumerate especially Dr. N. Nicolicescu, Dr. C. Barbulescu, Dr. D.Gh. Bungetzianu whom we knew for many years as the main teacher of homeopathy in our country, Dr. Tiberiu Ionescu and ph. Victor Iacobi.

After only a few weeks, in the end of 1947, homeopathy was forbidden in Romania and the sanction for the Society of Homeopathy was repealed. The Communist Party considered it a product of the idealist ideology and a defiance against the “real” science, so it became a political enemy that had to be annihilated.

After 17 years of restrictions, the Society reappeared as A Circle of Homeopathy, with Dr. G. Galea and Dr. Alfred Teitel as leaders. In 1974, the leader of the Circle became Prof. Victor Sahleanu, and from this moment on homeopathy regained the chance of a new beginning. The persons who contributed to its reorganization being Prof. Bungetzianu, Prof. D. Dobrescu, ph. Cezarina Tuchel and Dr. Sadina Popescu.

In 1981 The Circle became Section of Homeopathy, among the societies of the USSM (Union of the Societies of Medical Sciences) and in 1985, after 38 years of official absence, the organization finally regained the name and statute of Society of Homeopathy.

In 1990, the Society became autonomous, and Dr. Pavel Chirila was elected president. In the autumn of 1980 the Ministry of Health, through its Centre of Medical Post-Graduate Education for medical doctors and pharmacists ( the Director being at that time Dr. Ioan Teleianu), started to organize courses in homeopathy in Bucharest. These courses were, from the beginning, addressed only to medical doctors and from 1983, also to pharmacists who had finished their specialization. At the end of the courses, the participants had to pass the examinations and thus they obtained the right to practice homeopathy in our country.

The courses respect the same regulations nowadays and are organized in 2 modes:

•  courses in 3 modules of 3 weeks each, with 352 hours, consisting of 200 hours of theory and 152 hours of practice, in 3 years;

•  week-end courses (2 days of intensive training ) with the same number of hours, in 22 sessions, organized also in 3 modules, for 2 years. The first module is for both pharmacists and medical doctors; starting from the second module the training is done separately.

During the courses, evaluation of the students is made through periodic assessments of their theoretical and practical studies, in the end of each module. In order to obtain the diploma of attestation for homeopathy, the students must pass the final examination organized by the Ministry of Health with the assessment of their theoretical knowledge and practical training.

The syllabus of the course respects ECH agreements.

From 1980 until the present time, the courses graduated 2038 persons: 1908 medical doctors and 130 pharmacists.

Societatea Romana de Homeopatie – SRH, through its president Dr. Doina Pavlovschi who is also the National Coordinator of the Complementary Studies in Homeopathy in Romania, is entitled by the College of Medical Doctors and Pharmacists and the Ministry of Health to organize these courses in Bucharest and other major university centers : Cluj, Timisoara, Iasi, Sibiu, Constanta. The courses are held by the lecturers who are medical doctors or pharmacist members of SRH, graduates of the formative courses organized by the National Center of Medical Education and the National School of Public Health, Management and Medical Education Bucharest.

Present Legislation Related to Homeopathy:

Government’s Decision 899/2002 concerning postgraduate courses for medical, medico-dental and pharmaceutical specialties;

Order 418/2005 concerning the National Catalogue for programs of complementary studies of attestation for medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists, as well as for methodology and organization of the courses;

Law 118 / May 2007- Law for complementary and alternative medicine in Romania.