title: RAHI-SATHI Indo-U.S. Collaboration: The Evolution of a Trainee-Led Twinning Model in Global Health Into a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Program.
abstract: In recent years there has been a surge in the number of global health programs operated by academic institutions. However, most of the existing programs describe partnerships that are primarily faculty-driven and supported by extramural funding.
  
  
  
  Research and Advocacy for Health in India (RAHI, or "pathfinder" in Hindi) and Support and Action Towards Health-Equity in India (SATHI, or "partnership" in Hindi) are 2 interconnected, collaborative efforts between the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Charutar Arogya Mandal (CAM), a medical college and a tertiary care center in rural western India. The RAHI-SATHI program is the culmination of a series of student/trainee-led research and capacity strengthening initiatives that received institutional support in the form of faculty mentorship and seed funding. RAHI-SATHI's trainee-led twinning approach overcomes traditional barriers faced by global health programs. Trainees help mitigate geographical barriers by acting as a bridge between members from different institutions, garner cultural insight through their ability to immerse themselves in a community, and overcome expertise limitations through pre-planned structured mentorship from faculty of both institutions. Trainees play a central role in cultivating trust among the team members and, in the process, they acquire personal leadership skills that may benefit them in their future careers.
  
  
  
  This paradigm of trainee-led twinning partnership promotes sustainability in an uncertain funding climate and provides a roadmap for conducting foundational work that is essential for the development of a broad, university-wide global health program.
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Apurv.Soni@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Apurv
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.|Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Nisha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fahey
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Shyamsundar
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authors.lastname: Raithatha
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
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authors.lastname: Raithatha
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Anusha
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authors.lastname: Prabhakaran
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Tiffany A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Moore Simas
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Nancy
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authors.lastname: Byatt
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Jagdish
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authors.lastname: Vankar
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
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authors.lastname: Chin
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Ajay G
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authors.lastname: Phatak
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Shirish
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.affiliation: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Keefe
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Harshil
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authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
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authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
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authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Tracey
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Khubchandani
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Newman
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Rosenfield
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Handorf
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Novak
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Bostrom
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Anindita
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authors.lastname: Deb
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Soaham
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authors.lastname: Desai
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
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authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Archana
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authors.lastname: Nimbalkar
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Kandarp
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authors.lastname: Talati
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Milagros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosal
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McQuilkin
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Himanshu
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authors.lastname: Pandya
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Heena P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Santry
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Sunil
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authors.lastname: Thanvi
authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
authors.forename: Utpala
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kharod
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, India.
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mesh_terms: D057191:Capacity Building; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D014943:Global Health; D006296:Health Services; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007391:International Cooperation; D007857:Leadership; D008611:Mentors; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical; D014481:United States