What is the rural sensitisation programme?

The rural health camp is an experiential learning process for medical students, postgraduates and young doctors to expose them to life in rural areas, rural health problems and approaches to addressing these problems.

The aims of RSP are:

1. To expose students to models of primary health care.
2. To understand health problems in the country.
3. To explore their future role in addressing these problems.

Approach of RSP

Students are exposed to models of community health work including hospital based secondary care and primary health care in the community. They are also exposed to work of the organisation in fields related to health such as school education, livelihood, agriculture, land rights and community empowerment.  We will start with health, but the discussions will move beyond health.

Activities during the RSP

Day 1 – Exposure to work of organisation , hospital visit,  discussing the linkages of health with other social determinants, group reflection

Day 2 – Field visits in small groups – seeing the real India; reflections in groups

Day 3 – Group reflection about health problems in the country, and ways forward

Presentation about the health and development work of the organisation: they are introduced to the history of the organisation and exposed the different aspects of the health and development work.

Observation hospital visit: Observational visit of the secondary hospital where they observe service activities and talk to different members of staff. The focus is to understand how the hospital serves the community to provide quality health care at low cost, in an accessible and acceptable manner.

Community visits and case studies: Students visit villages in the community in small groups talking to individual staff members and families and also observing the life in the village. They meet community members, health animators and volunteers, farmers, artisans to understand their lives and health problems. They prepare a short presentation of their visits using a case study approach.

Reflective discussions: Students present their observations of the hospital visit and their visit to the community. Through these discussions we explore the health problems in the community, social determinants of health, primary health care concepts, the role of health worker, life and organisation of tribal communities.  We try to draw out a broader map of the country’s health problems and ways of addressing them.  We also discuss the concept of a health system and the skills required for primary and secondary care. We have sessions to discuss the dilemmas of students in relation to their medical course, choice of postgraduate training and career choice. 

Group activities:  Ethical case discussions, group games and movie discussions.

Informal interaction with seniors: mentors include primary care practitioners and medical college teachers to learn from their life and experiences.

Meeting with junior doctors who have worked in rural areas: Students informally interact with doctors who have worked in their organisations to understand the benefits of learning and working in a rural hospital.

Community living: The programme involves living together within the local community, learning their way of life and getting to know each other.

Is this programme for you?

If you are concerned about the country’s health problems and want to move out of the confines of the medical college to see what is happening in the community. If you want to explore a different perspective to thinking about medicine, meet like minded people who think differently. If you are trying to find ways in which you can contribute to solving the problems of society, then this programme is for you.

Number of participants for each camp: 30 participants for each camp.