The HeART programme was conducted from the 14th to 19th of October 2019 for the I year batch of MBBS students. The acronym “HeART” stands for Health Appraisal by Rapid Techniques and is an innovative programme for Community Based Experiential Learning Opportunity developed and copyrighted by the Department of Community Medicine. The first of its kind in India in UG training, HeART was started in 2015 with the objectives of providing early exposure to the students on research methodology and also to enable them to explore the social, cultural and environmental links of health and disease. It also strives to fulfil the MCI curriculum guidelines to give early exposure to the students of the community to inculcate a holistic approach to treating diseases and avoid a narrow disease-centric approach to health. The programme concluded with presentations by the students on their week-long activities, which was attended by the respected Dean Prof. Ravishankar, VP curriculum Prof. Seethesh Ghosh and, VP students, Prof. Partha Nandi and HOD s and faculty from various departments. Faculty and PGs from JIPMER Karaikal, Sri Venkateswara medical college, PIMS etc attended the function and lauded the students for their efforts.
