ELEGIBILITY CRITERIA

1. MBBS with or without postgraduate qualification. The candidates with post graduate qualification will have an added advantage.
2. Employed in a secondary hospital (small or medium size hospital or clinic) in India; doctors working with NGOs and in community care projects will also be considered. Doctors from both non-governmental and governmental organizations are eligible.
3. Participants should have demonstrated an active interest in HIV care. Preference will be given to those already involved in HIV care.
4. For the FHM course offered at MAMC, priority will be given to applicants working in Delhi, UP, MP, Uttaranchal, Himachal, J& K, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan & Western Bihar. For candidates from other states, the course is available at the other two training centres as given below. * Candidates from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa may apply to any of the three centres.
5. Commitment to develop and implement a operational project in their hospital/Institution. (The candidates have to submit their broad plans for such a project as Part B of the application form. Participants will be guided in developing and implementing this project during the course.)
6. Support from the administration of the hospital/organization for undertaking the course and implementing the project. The Medical Superintendent or Senior Administrator/ Physician of the hospital must nominate the candidate.
7. Participants are required to identify a local project guide within their institution or from nearby who will provide local guidance during the project planning and implementation.

* School of Tropical Medicine ( Eastern region) - West Bengal, Orissa, Eastern Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachala Pradesh, Shillong, Imphal, Sikkim & Mizoram;

*CMC, Vellore (Southern Region): Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh & Pondicherry

Selection

               The candidates will be selected 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.

Course Duration : 12 months (March 2010 - February 2011)

STRUCTURE OF COURSE

• First Contact Course (CC-I) at the centre of 6 days duration for all participants, March, 2010.
• Distance Learning Programme (DC) of 13 modules from March to June 2010.
• Second Contact Course (CC-II) at the centre of 2 weeks duration between March and April 2010.
• In-service training (CC-III) at the centre of 2 weeks duration between July and October 2010.
• Project Implementation Phase (PP) of 6 months from August 2010 to January 2011.
• Fourth Contact Course (CC-IV) of 5 days duration in February or March 2011.

Contact Courses

CC-I: Course orientation, basic clinical skills training, introduction to distance learning, computer skills, accessing educational resources, project management skills and role of an HIV physician. Development of the outline of the project proposal.

CC-II: Development of clinical skills through practical exposure to clinical care at the centre; development of project proposals along with course faculty.

CC-III: Hands-on clinical training as a registrar in the in-patient and outpatient service. The student will have an individualized curriculum plan to meet their training needs. This will include a requisite number of patient work-ups, case presentations, procedures and clinical conditions seen.