Education of Traditional Medicine in the Islamic Era

Iranian ancestors were the main founders of important branches of knowledge and education، particularly medicine. In the traditional medicine، the knowledge of medicine was divided into the two categories of theoretical and practical، each of which had a special method of teaching. Lecture in small groups، question and answer، problem solving، teaching by tables and algorithms، and using poems were major education methods. Teaching of practical courses was performed in educational hospitals. Theoretical courses were sometimes held at the bedside. Moreover، writing thesis and taking final comprehensive examination were necessary to obtain medical certificate. By integrating different teaching methods of theoretical courses، Iranian scientists considered the level of learning and memorization of the scholars. Developing the ability to accept social responsibilities after graduation is one of the items that received great attention in the Islamic pedagogy. Another important point in ancient Iran، which received more attention than today، was freedom of studying all majors including medicine. However، after graduation، the scholar had to write the thesis and pass the final comprehensive examination to obtain medical certificate and work permission. This is obviously absent in education of general medicine in today’s Iran.