MBBS students conduct health awareness drive in Jamnagar

Rajkot: First-year MBBS students from the department of community medicine at Shri M P Shah Government Medical College conducted a community outreach and health awareness programme in Falla village on Feb 27 as part of the National Medical Commission's Family Adoption Programme (FAP)."The initiative, conducted under the Competency-Based Medical Education guidelines, aims to help future doctors understand the social and environmental factors that influence health while building empathy and a community-oriented outlook," said Dr Nandini Desai, dean of the medical college.During the visit, students interacted with families adopted under the programme and collected information on demographics, environmental conditions, sanitation practices, nutrition and overall health behaviour. The data gathered was later discussed among student groups to understand its public health significance, following which they prepared simple and practical health education messages for the families."To engage the community, students also performed street plays (nukkad natak) at various locations, including the Anganwadi in Falla village, The Patel International School in Dhrangda, and the primary and secondary schools of Moti Banugar," the college said in a statement.The performances highlighted key public health issues such as adolescent anaemia, balanced diet and nutrition, personal hygiene and sanitation, menstrual hygiene awareness, and the importance of vaccination.As part of the field exposure, students also visited the Primary Health Centre, Sub-Centre and Anganwadi to observe how grassroots healthcare services function and how national health programmes are implemented at the local level.Dr Dipesh Parmar said the FAP helps medical students understand the broader determinants of health and prepares them to become more effective and socially responsible doctors.