Maharashtra has added a new responsibility to the Family Adoption Program (FAP) of MBBS students: screening households for tuberculosis (TB). With this move, every community visit by medical students now doubles as an opportunity to spot the disease early and connect families to treatment.
The Family Adoption Program (FAP), part of India’s new Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) system, already requires every MBBS student to “adopt” families from nearby villages. Students visit these homes regularly, observe local health conditions, and understand the social factors that affect care.
Now, as part of these visits, students carry out symptom-based TB screening. Using the World Health Organization’s four-symptom checklist: chronic cough, fever, weight loss, and night sweats students ask simple but targeted questions.
If someone shows warning signs, the student immediately refers them to the nearest TB unit under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP). Alongside this, the students talk to families about TB prevention, the importance of completing treatment, and clearing the myths that surround the disease.
Before the state-wide rollout, the approach was tested in Mulshi taluka of Pune district between March and June 2024.
Participation: More than 150 MBBS undergraduates, along with interns, postgraduate students, and social workers took part.
Coverage: Together, they visited villages under the Paud TB Unit and screened 559 individuals, nearly 3% of the local population.
Training: The students were trained by faculty and NTEP staff on how to ask questions, identify high-risk individuals, and counsel families.
Community Activities: Besides home visits, they also conducted street plays and group discussions to spread TB awareness.
Although the pilot’s main focus was student training, rather than maximizing case detection, it showed that integrating TB screening into FAP is both feasible and sustainable.
India carries the highest TB burden in the world, and Maharashtra remains one of the states most affected. Early diagnosis continues to be a challenge, especially in rural and semi-urban areas where access to health facilities is limited.
By involving MBBS students in the fight:
Students learn better: They see TB not just as a chapter in pathology but as a lived reality in households.
Communities get access: Families in remote areas receive early screening and better awareness.
Public health strengthens: Thousands of students effectively become “frontline screeners,” extending the reach of government programs.
Because FAP continues every year with new student batches, the effort builds a self-renewing cycle of screening and awareness in the same villages.
The Health Department now plans to extend this model to all medical colleges in Maharashtra. Experts suggest that once the TB model is stable, the same visits can also include screening for diabetes, hypertension, leprosy, and other chronic conditions.
The collaboration between medical education departments and public health programs also creates a stronger bridge future doctors gain practical experience, and the healthcare system benefits from extra manpower.
What began in a handful of villages near Pune could soon spread across Maharashtra. With every student visit, another family may get the chance to detect TB earlier, seek timely treatment, and break the cycle of stigma and delay that still surrounds the disease.
If successful, the model could become a blueprint for other states and a powerful step in India’s mission to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025.
(Rh/Eth/VK/MSM)