FELLOWSHIP IN HIV MEDICINE
The Fellowship in HIV Medicine course will not be receiving any applications for the year 2013
The FHM training program is designed to address the expanding HIV epidemic, the limited availability of HIV care services and the absence of a formal clinical training program for doctors. So far, 130 physicians have been trained through seven batches and the eighth batch of physicians will be completing their training by March 2012.
Objectives of the training program
The aims of the program are to:
- Enable participants to improve their knowledge and skills in HIV care
- Enable the development of accessible and high quality HIV clinical services in their hospitals and
- Develop a network of HIV physicians
Educational approach
The educational approach of the program is called training-service development approach. The training component consists of distance learning and contact courses and the service development component consists of project work.
Course structure
Distance course – 13 modules over 5 months
Contact courses – 6 weeks over one year and
Project work – 6 months at the candidates’ work place.
Next course
The next course will begin in April, 2012. The prospectus and application form may be obtained from Course Coordinator, Fellowship in HIV Medicine, Medicine Unit 1 and Infectious Disease, Infectious Diseases Training and Research Center (IDTRC), Christian Medical College, Vellore-632004; E-mail- hivdistancelearning@cmcvellore.ac.in; Tel 0416: 228 3617
Selection
The candidates will be short listed for interview on the basis of the information in their application, according to the following criteria: (a) experience and academic qualification of applicant; (b) applicant’s interest in HIV care; (c) capacity of the institution to undertake HIV care; (d) quality of the project outline; and (e) administrative support from the institution. The short listed candidates will be called for personal interview at CMC for final selection.
Course faculty
Forty course faculty from 20 departments at CMC conduct the training.
Course duration
1 year
Contact courses
During the contact courses at Vellore, the students have hands-on clinical experience in the outpatient and in-patient services, laboratory practicals, counselling experience and exposure to the community. They develop project plans and strengthen the networking within their group.
Distance course
The distance learning modules are organised to facilitate active learning through case based excercises, reflection on practice and constant feedback. The modules consist of case based activities, reading and references, and a tutor marked assignment.
Project work
The objective of project work in this course is to strengthen and supplement the HIV care services in the participants’ hospitals. The project aims to ensure that, by the end of the course, there would be available in the hospital/institution an adequate and functioning HIV care system with the following minimum components, such as out patient clinic, In-patient care, HIV testing, Infection control and exposure prevention system, Counselling, Staff education and ART as appropriate to the local context .sample projects are available in our website www.fhmindia.org