BHMS and MD (Hom): what the degrees actually contain

You see “BHMS” or “MD (Hom)” after a homoeopath’s name. But what do those letters hold? How many years? Which subjects? This piece opens the two degrees and shows what is inside, in plain words.

Everything here comes from the official NCH regulations and curricula in our syllabus library. The NCH is the National Commission for Homoeopathy, the body that sets the course. Where our records have an open question, we say so.

BHMS: the first degree

BHMS stands for Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery. Students enter through NEET-UG, the national entrance test.

The course has four professional years and then an internship. The first year is longer than the others: 18 months. The next three are 12 months each. Then comes a 12-month internship. Add it up and the whole course takes five and a half years.

The degree is given only after a student passes all the exams and also completes the internship. Both are needed.

What each year contains

First year: 8 subjects. Homoeopathic Materia Medica, Organon of Medicine with Homoeopathic Philosophy, Repertory and Case Taking, Homoeopathic Pharmacy, Anatomy with Histology and Embryology, Physiology and Biochemistry, Fundamentals of Psychology, and Fundamentals of Yoga.

Second year: 9 subjects. Materia Medica, Organon and Repertory continue. New ones arrive: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Pathology and Microbiology, Community Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and Practice of Medicine.

Third year: 7 subjects. Materia Medica, Organon, Repertory, Practice of Medicine, Surgery, and Gynaecology and Obstetrics carry on. A new subject joins: Principles of Modern Pharmacology, studied alongside Homoeopathic Materia Medica.

Fourth year: 6 subjects. Materia Medica, Organon, Repertory and Practice of Medicine, plus Research Methodology and Biostatistics, and Therapeutic Yoga and Life Style Management.

Students also take electives. They must take at least two in each of the first three years.

Two things stand out

First, three homoeopathic subjects run through all four years: Materia Medica, Organon and Repertory. Materia Medica is the study of medicines. Organon is the philosophy, built on Hahnemann’s founding book. Repertory is the index of symptoms, and with it comes case-taking, the long conversation with a patient. These are the core of the degree.

Second, a great deal of the course is general medical science. Anatomy, physiology, pathology, forensic medicine, surgery, obstetrics, community medicine, pharmacology. A BHMS student studies the human body and disease in depth, not homoeopathy alone.

The internship

The internship is 12 months long. It has no subject list, because it is not classroom teaching. It is a rotatory clinical posting. “Rotatory” means the intern moves through different departments in turn. The regulations define fourteen departments in all.

MD (Hom): the postgraduate degree

After BHMS, a graduate can study for the MD in Homoeopathy. It is governed by the NCH postgraduate regulations of 2024.

The MD takes three years, in two parts. Part I runs about 18 months, and the scholar works as a Junior Resident. In Part II, they work as a Senior Resident. A research paper is required. So is a certificate in Basic Cardiac Life Support, often shortened to BCLS.

Part I includes subjects every scholar shares, whatever their speciality. One of them is Research Methodology and Biostatistics.

The seven specialities

In Part II, each scholar studies one speciality in depth. The current NCH curriculum lists seven:

1. Homoeopathic Materia Medica
2. Organon of Medicine and Homoeopathic Philosophy
3. Homoeopathic Repertory and Case Taking
4. Homoeopathic Pharmacy
5. Practice of Medicine
6. Paediatrics
7. Psychiatry

Paediatrics is worth a note. There is no BHMS subject with that name. So for most scholars it is a new field, not a deeper step into an old one.

An honest open question. The NCH website has also published postgraduate curricula for Community Medicine and Dermatology. Whether these are now full MD specialities is not settled in our records. We will not call them that until it is clear.

What this means for you

If you are choosing a homoeopath, these letters tell you about training. They do not, on their own, tell you who is right for your needs. Registration matters too: a practising homoeopath in India must be registered with a State Council or on the NCH National Register. For any health question, speak to a qualified, registered practitioner.

Where to go next on this platform

Courses, in the Learn section, lays out BHMS year by year and MD by speciality, with a room for each subject. “Reading a practitioner’s qualifications: BHMS, MD, registration” explains how to read the letters after a name. And “How homoeopathy is regulated in India today” covers who makes the rules.