Prospects for Community Medicine Residency in India: Vision 2047

If one’s wildest imaginations are to come true and time travel becomes possible, I wish to see the hundredth year of India's independence in its full glory. The vision extends beyond the scientific and capitalistic possibilities. I dream of a world with the expansive human mind delving into knowledge and research while staying in touch with empathy and compassion, from where all healing begins. John Lennon’s world may be a philosopher’s daydream, but if a medico must write a song of the future, it would not fall short of wisdom.

We have come a long way since John Snow’s epidemiologic approaches to Geographic Information System and satellite integration with demographic data. In 2047, the challenges of passing on the same expertise to our frontline health activists will be solved. My village’s grassroot workers (Accredited Social Health Activist, Anganwadi workers, and Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives) will readily follow the flow of technological advancements in public health and reach the farthest corners of our villages. Flow of data from root to the topmost authorities will streamline and not suffer because of the digital transition.

Ayushman Bharat Health Account initiative under digital health mission will also blossom into a closed loop and no patient will suffer because of memory glitches of lost/misplaced/forgotten health records. Digitalized Primary Health Centres will facilitate and guarantee efficient health care. Antenatal care visits integrated with the system will translate to improved maternal and child health outcomes, along with smooth referral processes, alerting the nearest relevant referral units in real-time, lowering delays, and perinatal mortality.

My dreams envision that thought expansion and an enabling social system will change the face of social and behaviour change communication as we know it now. Engagement of target groups will be obvious; all the stakeholders will enjoy a symphony of universal health care. The apparent ease of just taking a pill would no longer appeal to society as it becomes increasingly open to adopting primordial prevention. When adolescents in my village are empowered enough to sit with State Institute of Health & Family Welfare officials and chart out the next update of Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (Adolescent health programme), it will be the actualization of the utopia of a public health specialist.

The ideas of data study, epidemiology, immunizations, primary health care, and promotive care will translate as it is from a professor’s mind to undergraduate students’ brains. New postgraduates will embrace and enliven the relayed sparks of altruism from seniors through their community-based research, publishing, and presenting findings from newer research models leading to more educational and behavior change interventions with clear knowledge on various aspects of research, capable of inspiring undergraduates on their own.

The research initiated by postgraduates for consecutive years will be part of the ongoing cohort of adopted villages, each contribution acting as a building block before the next one. No library conversation will be anything other than a brainstorming session. Postgraduates will indulge in collaborative work and holistic discussions at this stage itself, with postgraduates from other departments.

Machine learning and health-related software development would also find a way into students’ laptops. With the enthusiastic budding doctors, we will directly borrow technical support from agencies like Indian Health Action Trust, Indian Council of Medical Research, etc. The community medicine department would have its own health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) and statistical excellence center.

If another pandemic struck, I hope my dreams come true where postgraduates would have the talent and leadership to consider volunteering in state and national task forces.

UNICEF, WHO, Aga Khan Foundation, etc., would find their work incomplete without including residents of this institute. Reviewing national and international journals would not be unheard of, not just by professors but also by able residents. The sea of dynamic qualities and work would end up instigating journals published by the department, eventually.

Our outreach centers will be free of trivial challenges, radiating the expertise of the department within and without. Postgraduates will compete for Sustainable Development Goals achieved in their respective areas, with best practices recognized by various ministries and serving as an inspiration to other institutes.

The laboratory work would flourish further with the help of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and in-department testing of climate change aspects. The department will represent itself as a model of a sustainable and eco-friendly setup. Focus on paperless learning and waste reduction at all levels of administration will contribute a major chunk to saving the environment.

A holistic evolution of the department at par with the changing possibilities within the branch, will make opting for KGMU an irresistible choice for anyone dreaming dreams of public health.