What is "ambashtha"

Ambashtha or Ambastha is a caste or sub-caste or a community of Hindus in India. According to Hindu scriptures, the term Ambastha refers to the offspring of a Brahmin father and a Vaishya mother, whose traditional occupation was the practice of medicine. Ambastha refers to a sub-caste of Kayasthas, and Crooke suggests that "they may be connected with the old Ambastha caste" as some Kayasthas are also associated with the practice of medicine and surgery.