Sarita Shrestha

Sarita Shrestha MD(Ayur), OBGYN, BAMS, is an Ayurvedic physician, professor, writer, founder and medical director of the Devi Ma Kunja Ayurvedic Hospital in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Shrestha is considered one of the foremost experts on the subject of Ayurveda in the United States and the authority in Ayurvedic women's healthcare. She is Nepal's first female Ayurvedic physician. and its first Ayurvedic OB/GYN. She is widely regarded as the “Mother of Ayurveda” in the West.

Education

Shrestha received a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) from the Jiwaji University, (Gwalior, India), a Certificate of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery (CAMS) from the Tribhuvan University, (Kathmandu, Nepal) and in 1993 received a Medical Doctor in Ayurveda from the Benares Hindu University (Varanasi, India). She has also received a Diploma Yoga Therapy from the Vivekananda Kendra, (Bangalore, India), and a Diploma Acupuncture (DAc.) from the Alternative Medicine Center, (Colombo, Sri Lanka).

Professional Experience

Shrestha has been practicing medicine in Nepal for more than 20 years. She teaches internationally and in 2000 started teaching Ayurveda throughout the United States. She has received awards from His Majesty the King of Nepal. She is currently the only Ayurvedic OB/GYN and only female Ayurvedic physician teaching in the United States. She is also a regular contributing lecturer at the National Ayurvedic Medical Association annual conferences. Shrestha sits on the faculty of the Mount Madonna Institute College of Ayurveda in Watsonville, California, as well as the Rocky Mountain Institute for Ayurveda and Yoga in Boulder, Colorado, where she teaches annually. She also teaches at The Sacred Window School for Maternal and Newborn Health in Albuquerque, New Mexico. and Vedika Global School in Emeryville, California. She is also a visiting Associate Professor for the Ayurveda Campus, (Naradevi, Kathmandu) and a visiting Consultant for the Sri Ram Orphanage, (Haridwar, India). Previously Shrestha has worked as a Program and Planning Co-ordinator for the World Health Organisation.

In 2002 she founded the Devi Ma Kunja Ayurvedic Hospital in Bhaktapur, Nepal, outside of Kathmandu, Nepal where she volunteers her time providing free to low-cost healthcare for primarily rural Nepalese women.

Literature

Shrestha is featured in the book In Search of Medicine Buddha by David Crow and contributed recipes to the book Touching Heaven -

Tonic and Delicious Postpartum Recipes from Ayurveda by Ysha Oakes.

• Role of Cedrus deodar in the Management of Puerperium, MD Thesis; 1996
• Management of Asthma through Yoga, Dissertation; 1989