DRISHTi Health Communications
A 6-week virtual course designed to enhance public health communication skills for health and communication professionals.
Language
English
Duration
6 weeks
Fees & structure
INR 7500 (limited fee waivers available)
Last date to apply
No current ongoing cohorts. Please follow our social media to keep track of the same.
Location
Online with weekly live sessions
Contact
About the course
Why DRISHTi Health Communication?
Health professionals and researchers need skills to be able to communicate in a way that is scientifically accurate yet devoid of jargon so that it can reach a larger pool of audience, and be able to tailor communication to meet the desired objectives. Though the significance of communication finds a place in the medical curriculum, it receives little attention in health professionals’ education overall. The DRISHTi Health Communication course aims to close this gap, and train health professionals and researchers in skills of public health communication, such as writing op-eds, making dissemination plans, and engaging with the media.
What will the course cover?
The course covers 4 core modules:
Introduction to Communication
Communication in Healthcare & Research
Public health communication
Ethics of communication
It also has a range of bonus modules, which range across topics of social issues in health research, community engagement, researcher voices, and COVID-19 pandemic from the ethics lens.
Who can apply?
Intended for anyone working or interested in public health and communication fields.
What will you receive?
Certificate of completion
Information about earlier cohorts/testimonials
Over the last two years the DRISHTi platform has trained 100+ health professionals, across 5 cohorts.
Alumni testimonial
“The health communication course is a fantastic 101 to understand and acquire the basics of health communication skills. It has excellent faculty and a good mix of didactic and interactive sessions and practical hands-on work with useful feedback. It also gives one a good opportunity to interact with peers who are interested in this field. I enjoyed the course and benefitted from it, and would highly recommend it.” – Akshay Baheti, MD Radiology, Professor (Assistant) at Tata Memorial Centre
“The course was well paced and the investment time was realistic for working professionals. Knowing that every Tuesday evening there would be a live session with the subject matter expert and cohort, it was helpful to set targets for timely completion and engage in discussion. Reference to specific case studies/ practice sessions and group work during the live sessions with active feedback and suggestions from peers and faculty were valuable. Out of a panel of excellent faculty, I particularly enjoyed the interactive sessions by Usha Raman, Priyanka Dutt and Gautam Menon and a big shout out to Salik for impeccable coordination, prompt responses to queries and technical assistance.” - Kranthi Vysyaraju, Education Officer, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru
Discover the course architects
Usha Raman
Professor, Dept of Communication, University of Hyderabad
Usha Raman’s academic interests span journalism pedagogy, cultural studies of science, health communication, children's media, feminist media studies, and digital cultures. In addition to several journal articles and book chapters, she writes regularly for the popular media on issues related to health, gender and education.
Tavpritesh Sethi
Associate Professor of Computational Biology, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi
Tavpritesh Sethi is a physician-scientist and an innovator in the area of Digital Health, and AI/ML for Healthcare. He has been implementing his vision for Sustainable Digital Health and gaining an aggregate experience of around 15 years at delivering computational research and on-ground solutions for medicine.
Sarojini Nadimpally
Public Health Researcher and Social Scientist, SAMA Resource Group for Women & Health
Sarojini Nadimpally has conducted and published studies on public health, sexual and reproductive health and rights, reproductive and biotechnologies and surrogacy, ethics in clinical trials, access to medicines, vaccines, patient rights, tribal health, conflict and health.
Sarah Iqbal
Science Engagement Consultant; Co-founder, Superheroes Against Superbugs
Sarah is trained as a researcher in Life Sciences and is currently working as a science engagement consultant at the Foundation for Advancing Science and Technology in New Delhi and serving as a strategic adviser to the India Science Festival.
Subhra Priyadarshini
Lead Faculty, Chief Editor, Nature India
Subhra Priyadarshini is an award-winning science journalist. She trains Indian scientists in science communication and presentation skills and handles the India Science Media Fellowships, partnered with the DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance.
Chandrakant Lahariya
Medical Doctor, Epidemiologist, Public Health Expert, and Writer
Chandrakant Lahariya is a Physician, writer, and Senior Health & Policy Specialist. He is the author of the book Till We Win: India's Fight Against The COVID-19 Pandemic, and regularly contributes to public health communication in popular media.
Gautam Menon
Dean, Research and Professor of Biology and Physics, Ashoka University; Professor of Computational Biology and Theoretical Physics, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
Gautam Menon, alongside his academic pursuits, serves on the scientific review committees of several international agencies, including the Human Frontier Science Program and the Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance, as well as on a number of national committees.
Madhankumar Anandhakrishnan
Grants Manager at Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science
Madhan has been involved in coordinating the IndiaAlliance’s science communication training activities and the pilot phase of India Research Management Initiative (IRMI), a programme aimed at strengthening research ecosystems in India.
Padma Priya
Co-founder and Editorial lead, Suno India
Padma Priya is an independent journalist who has written for leading media houses such as The Hindu, The Wire, IndiaSpend. She has also worked as an advocacy and communication specialist for the organisation Doctors Without Borders.
Funders & partners
