The Health for India (HFI) is a one-year primary care fellowship program that aims to confront health inequities in vulnerable populations and underserved communities to create an inclusive, sustainable, decommodified, One Health ecosystem.

The HFI fellowship will be offered in collaboration with community partners in 7 locations across India- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Manipur and, Odisha. Each of these locations is unique in terms of geography, culture, health needs and local challenges and a majority are in rural, remote areas. Health infrastructure, healthcare interventions and the stage of development of each community hub is unique to the location and its needs. While some centres are in the initial stages of being set up, others have been running as fully functional units for several years now. Fellows will be matched to a location based on their skill sets, areas of interest and learning goals to best serve the community they will be working with during the course of their fellowship.

The Health for India Fellowship promises to be an exciting, challenging and immersive learning opportunity in primary care, public health and community engagement. It is designed to make you ponder, seek answers, reflect, collaborate and act to address health inequities in a sustainable, contextual and community-oriented manner.

Depending on the fellowship site you match with, your experience is likely to vary according to the community and local context. However, there are some common threads across program sites:

• You are likely to spend 50-60% of your time in core clinical care and 40-50% of your time in understanding public health dynamics, community engagement, exploring collaborations, healthcare leadership and advocacy.
• You will be responsible for providing access to quality health and healthcare by leading a community health facility, with opportunities for continuous learning and adopting best practices for the population being served.
• Your scope of work may include one or more of the following - community engagement, health infrastructure development, health education, preventive care, public health programs, school health and nutrition, women’s health, mental health and/or research.
• You will have a key role to play in local health system strengthening, stakeholder engagement, exploring sustainable health delivery models and team building
• You may be engaged in volunteer management, student and intern engagement, Medical Yatras, and coordination with other project teams from time to time
• You will be encouraged to participate in relevant research, will be provided training opportunities during the course of the year and mentorship
• As the first batch of HFI fellows, you will have the exciting task of pioneering processes for incoming fellows through experiential learnings and regular documentation and reporting
• You will be guided to understand the community you are placed with, assess their needs, build trust and lasting relationships, feel and work towards instilling a sense of ownership in their health and wellbeing.
• You will often have the opportunity to be the collective voice of the community to advocate for health interventions, needs and plans both within the AarogyaSeva and outside of the organisation. We encourage you to bear this responsibility with grace, humility and honour.
• You will be encouraged to push your boundaries but you will be guided and supported by the HFI Support Team, the mentor network and the local community partners at every fellowship site. And you will go back with memories, learnings and bonds that we hope will last a lifetime!

The fellowship program is open for any registered medical practitioner with a passion and commitment to the vision of Health for All, interest in public health and healthcare leadership and, a willingness to learn, adapt and work with the community they are matched to in a respectful, neutral and humanitarian manner.

• If you are keen on understanding health and healthcare delivery in different contexts
• If you are patient, keep an open mind and find challenges stimulating,
• If you love immersing yourself in new cultures and experiences,
• If you are open to learning and reflection through often unstructured forms and experiences,
• If you are curious to understand the extent and diversity of the health spectrum,
• If you like working independently and leading teams,
• If you are respectful of cultures and desirous to learn more about them,
• If you are adaptable to a simple lifestyle with sporadic access to connectivity and resources,
• If you believe access to quality, affordable healthcare should be a basic human right,

Then we strongly encourage you to apply!