Our Story

Nearly 75% of dispensaries, 60% of hospitals and 80% of doctors are located in urban areas, serving just 28% of the Indian populace. 

      Modern-day medical education often unfolds within the walls of urban hospitals, leaving a significant gap in understanding the unique healthcare challenges faced in rural India. This gap between the people of our country and basic healthcare services is remarkably high.  Amidst this, we believe that there exists a wave of young, passionate doctors, yearning for change and innovation to transform mainstream healthcare systems. 

        To answer this call for action, we introduced the Rural Sensitisation Program (RSP), a dynamic 3-day initiative. An RSP is an opportunity for medical students and junior doctors to explore alternative healthcare approaches, engage with grassroots healthcare providers, and dive deep into the complexity and sources of health problems. It's a chance for these aspiring health professionals to peak into the reality of over 70% of our country.

        The Rural Sensitisation Program began in the year 2017. The days at camp lay themselves out, where the participants set course for most of the topics of conversation. In 2019, we received an overwhelming response of 150 applications. We also received feedback from the participants expressing their discomfort with the unethical, commercial, specialty-driven trends and their search for a more humane and ethical healthcare approaches.

  One moon-walk night, many expressed how 3 days were not enough. They demanded an extended version. A version that allows deeper immersion stretched for a longer period of time with space for extensive discussions. This gave birth to the idea of a one-year Travel Fellowship Program. This long leap of faith has now reached the fourth batch of travelers. We drew inspiration from the Community Health Learning Programme (CHLP), Bengaluru, and Community Health Fellowship Programme (CHFP), Bhopal which has been set up by the Society for Community Health Awareness Research and Action (SOCHARA). These fellowships focus on theoretical learning, practical field-based experience with a network of NGOs, and mentoring.

      The fellowship has supported 12 travelers and 5 more have joined in the year 2023. Many centers have come together to form what we call our Travel Fellowship today. Tribal Hospital, Sittilingi anchors and hosts the program every year.