Rural Sensitisation Programs

Rural Sensitization Programmes are 3-day sensitization programs being organized to expose medical students, postgraduate students, and junior doctors to rural life and problems, models of community health, and to explore their role in contributing to health care in the country. 

THE BACKGROUND

Mainstream medical and health professionals’ education does not provide an opportunity for students to experience actual contexts of health problems in India. The environment of medical colleges educates students with a focus on tertiary care. However, there are widening healthcare disparities in several parts of the country. There is a mismatch between the settings where education takes place, and where health work is much needed. 

We have also appreciated the impact of the programme NIRMAN started in Maharashtra by Dr. Abhay and Dr. Rani Bang to identify, nurture and organize young change-makers to solve various societal problems. We wanted to develop a programme along these lines appropriate to South India.

There have been many experiments across the country in the NGO sector of providing health delivery systems linked with efforts in related fields such as school education, food security, livelihood, housing, land rights and community empowerment. Tribal Health Initiative (THI), Sittilingi and ASHWINI and ACCORD in Gudalur are two such initiatives in South India. Young health professionals can benefit from exposure to such experiments through the rural sensitisation programme. We hope such exposures, may make young people think about their role in addressing the country’s health problems.

To address this gap, we have started the 3-day rural sensitisation programme (RSP) for medical students and junior doctors. RSP was organised to provide MBBS students and young doctors exposure to alternative approaches to health care, interact with primary health care practitioners and discuss issues in health care. The response was overwhelming with about 150 students requesting to participate in RSP 2019. The programme was started first in Tribal Health Initiative in 2017 and in Gudalur Adivasi hospital in May 2019.