Healthcare personnel need to understand how persons of different genders, identities and sexual orientations are impacted by the existing healthcare system. These topics are rarely discussed openly and thus a lot of misconceptions surround these themes. With a view to impart these competencies in a lively manner, the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) of MGIMS Sevagram collaborated with the Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT) to organize a three-day workshop from 27-29 March 2024. The We Believe workshop was designed using innovative methods such as games, dialogues, group work, and field visits. The target audience were 35 postgraduates from Community Medicine from 12 different medical colleges in Maharashtra who were selected through a competitive process. Travel scholarships were provided by CEHAT to facilitate their attendance and stay in Sevagram.
Speaking of the initiative, Workshop Coordinator, Dr Arjunkumar Jakasania said: “The workshop aimed to cultivate sensitivity towards existing societal and health inequities, foster inclusivity, and explore methods to integrate these principles into medical education. We used innovative experiential methods such as power walks, gender matrices, poetry, and advocacy experience sharing to sensitize participants. Additionally, a field demonstration of teaching tools was conducted at the Rural Health Training Centre in Anji. Participants had an opportunity to learn from community members who shared their lived experiences.”
Resource persons included seasoned facilitators such as Renu Khanna from Sahaj, Vadodara; Sangeeta Rege, Amruta Bavadekar, Ajinkya Deshmukh from CEHAT; and Dr Anshu, Dr Subodh S Gupta, Dr Abhishek Raut, Dr Indrajit Khandekar, and Dr Arjunkumar Jakasania from MGIMS Sevagram. Participants had an opportunity to interact with disability rights activist, Dr Satendra Singh (Professor of Physiology, UCMS Delhi) and transgender rights advocates-- Dr Aqsa Shaikh (Professor of Community Medicine, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Delhi), and Dr Harikeerthan Raghuram (Associate Director for iHEAR - an initiative for Health Equity Advocacy and Research). They delivered online sessions on disability inclusion and inclusivity for sexual minorities respectively. Dr Priya Prabhu Deshpande from Miraj also attended the workshop. Faculty observers from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat attended the session, with an intent to conduct similar workshops in their respective states.
The Coordinator of IQAC Sevagram, Dr Anshu said: “We conducted a similar workshop called “I Believe” last year for undergraduates and postgraduates. We felt that we needed to follow this up with something for postgraduates, but with a commitment to take action. So, this time, in addition to the gender content, we added sessions on how to facilitate small group discussions, and gave participants an opportunity to develop lesson plans and teach these competencies in microteaching sessions. The mandate is to go back to their institutes and teach undergraduates these competencies, and thus spread the word.”
Dr BS Garg, Secretary, Kasturba Health Society, presided over the Valedictory function and distributed the certificates of participation. He reiterated that gender equality starts from within and inside our homes. Participants were greatly enthused by the workshop and called this workshop an eye-opening one in their feedback. They were all geared up to make a difference in their institutes in their own small way.