Pomegranate: The Celestial Fruit?

Which of the following medical organizations would you say features the pomegranate in its coat of arms?

• The British Medical Association
• Royal College of Physicians
• Royal College of Midwives
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

The answer?  - Not just one, but all of them. Such is the reverence with which the world of medicine has and continues to embrace this crowned jewel of the fruit kingdom.

"we are just beginning to fully understand why pomegranates have been venerated for millennia for their wide ranging medicinal properties."

As if the endorsement of such esteemed medical institutions was not enough - way before the medicinal properties of the pomegranate were described it was also held sacred by many of the world’s religions including; Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity & Islam.

Centuries have passed and today using the most expensive & sophisticated tools and procedures we are just beginning to fully understand why pomegranates have been venerated for millennia for their wide ranging medicinal properties.

Protocols designed for demonstrating the effectiveness of man made pharmaceutical drugs (the cost of bringing a new drug to market has been estimated between $500million to $2billion¹) are being used to provide an evidence base for the effectiveness of pomegranates (effectively freely available from the drug cabinet of nature) in treating various ailments.

In January 2000, the British Medical Association launched the Millennium Festival of Medicine. Using the theme “Celebrating the past, shaping the future” many of the events looked at changes in medical practice over the centuries. When it came to designing the logo for the Festival, the committee had a short list of some very strong contenders to choose from - namely; the human body, DNA, a heart beat and the pomegranate².

How was the Millennium Festival of Medicine to be branded? What was more pivotal to the message of “celebrating the past” and “shaping the future” of medicine, healthcare and wellness?

You guessed correctly, in a further astonishing endorsement of the pomegranate, it was chosen as the logo for the Millennium Festival of Medicine.

In Persian^* mythology Isfandyiar having eaten a pomegranate becomes invincible. Arguably the medal for invincibility has to be awarded to the pomegranate itself. Anything able to stand the test of time in the way the humble pomegranate has deserves the respect and adoration with which civilizations and clinicians of the past and present embrace this celestial fruit.

Dr Sepe Sehati, Co-founder, ClickTell Consulting

References:

1.  Health Aff (Millwood) 2006, 25 (2): 420–8

2.  BMJ 2000, 3214:1153-4

*. Pomegranates originated in Persia (modern day Iran).

Watch out Oxford & Cambridge: A new disruptive innovation in University Education?

If empires come and go, once big corporations disappear into the abyss, why should universities of today be here tomorrow?

At ClickTell we truly love innovative and disruptive ideas. Although the majority of conventional universities do a good job in providing their basic task of educating, we see very little timely and sustainable innovation directly coming out of the majority of the world universities.

Ironically some of the most successful global companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft were founded by university drop outs.

Yesterday, a number of leading academics (including Niall Ferguson) announced plans to set up a private university college in London, UK. The New College of the Humanities (NCH) where courses will cost (£18,000/year) twice as much as mainstream English universities, will offer one to one tutorials and the students will be taught by top British and American academics.

In addition to its core modules NCH will also teach modules  in logic and critical thinking, science and financial literacy. This is a step in the right direction. However, in its current form NCH suffers from a general widespread failing in university education: That of not getting the right mix and the right balance of science, logic, psychology, humanities and arts subject and cross fertilising them to develop courses fit for the needs of today’s challenging world.

Indeed, a world faced with challenges which can no longer be addressed by merely a “vertical” thinking approach, but instead a world which requires a thinking and doing network of interlinked “horizontal” and “vertical” approaches.

In addition, we would do well by shifting the balance by bringing in more science and engineering students and exposing them to the world of management, humanities, psychology and such like rather than continuing with the reverse.

Professor Grayling, master of the NCH said, “If we are to discover and inspire the next generation of lawyers, journalists, financiers, politicians, civil servants, writers, artists and teachers, we need to educate to the highest standards and with imagination, breadth and depth."

But the world no longer just revolves around lawyers, journalists, financiers and politicians. Professor Grayling makes absolutely no mention of scientists or engineers. Granted he is referring to a college of humanities. But in our opinion we can only claim to offer a truly wholesome innovative education when we have addressed the issues raised above.

Contact ClickTell to see how we can help shape the academic needs of your country or institution.