1065-India-Improving Transgender Healthcare in India at Mitr Clinics with the ACCELERATE  Program

The ACCELERATE program launched a network of service sites called Mitr Clinic to serve the transgender community in India. ACCELERATE aims to deliver comprehensive health services to transgender communities in India within a safe, stigma-free environment.

Mitr Clinic offers an extensive range of services, including:

General health care

Guidance and medication for hormone therapy, laser hair removal, and referrals for gender affirmation procedures

Mental health counseling

HIV/STI counseling, prevention, and treatment services

Support to access legal aid

Support to access social protection services

The word "Mitr," meaning "friend" in Hindi, reflects the clinic's ethos of friendship and empathy. Mitr Clinics are dedicated to addressing the needs and challenges of the transgender population by fostering supportive conversations and offering solutions grounded in compassion and solidarity. There is one clinic in Pune, one in Thane, and one in Hyderabad in India. The program is open to a student placement at any of these three locations.

1. Participatory Workshops and Qualitative Research:

Support an ongoing project to conduct human-centered design workshops with Mitr Clinic staff to explore innovative ways to enhance services and improve access for the diverse range of clients who can benefit from services. This can include helping to design and plan participatory activities, supporting workshop logistics, co-facilitating workshops, analyzing data from workshops, writing reports and manuscripts from workshop findings

2. Communication and Outreach Projects:

Develop user-friendly materials to improve educational resources on gender-affirming care for Mitr Clinic clients, including clear information about available services. This could entail iterative interactions with clients to contextualize communication materials to client needs

Design pamphlets and create social media campaigns to effectively disseminate materials and information to the community

3. Data Analysis:

Analyze quantitative data from client database to identify trends, measure outcomes, and generate actionable insights for service improvement

4. Manuscript Completion:

Assist in finalizing research manuscripts, including data analysis, writing, editing, and preparing documents for publication.

5. Report Development:

Support writing reports of Mitr Clinic activities and achievements to advocate for best practices in transgender healthcare to inform broader public health service systems in India

At in-person sites, the student will interact with staff on a day-to-day basis at the Mitr Clinic to support operations as desired and needed.

A warm, welcoming, and inclusive space dedicated to providing gender-affirming care, fostering a safe and supportive environment for both staff and clients. 

This placement is ideal for someone passionate about advancing transgender healthcare and creating inclusive, stigma-free environments. Candidates with experience or a strong interest in transgender health, public health, or equity-focused initiatives will be a good fit. Creativity, collaboration, and excellent communication skills are essential to contribute meaningfully to this impactful work. Having strong English writing skills is preferred. We also prefer someone who has experience and training in at least one of the following:  

Public health communication campaigns/educational materials

Design and conduct of qualitative methodologies, or qualitative data analysis

Design and conduct of quantitative methodologies, or qualitative data analysis 

Strong background in qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Familiarity with research protocols and ethical considerations in human subjects research.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft and edit manuscripts for publication

Strong organizational skills and experience with community-based research and working with diverse populations 

Name: Sunil Solomon, sss@jhmi.edu

I would describe my communication and mentorship styles as... 

I foster working environments which are collaborative, rigorous, flexible to student needs, supportive, and fun. Our team at Hopkins and in India are deeply passionate about creating public health services which improve the lives of those who can benefit most, and this vision drives our work. My mentorship strives for students to perform quality work while supporting their needs and valuing the human side of relationships.

A complementary student would have a working style and mentorship expectations that are..

A student would be a good fit if they are independently motivated and confident in independent work. They should be good problem-solvers, but not hesitant to ask questions and come to the mentorship team with problems to overcome as a team. Curiosity, creativity, and attention-to detail will help the student excel. 

Estimated Costs:

Housing: $300/month 
Food: $100/month  
Local Transportation: $100/month  
Internet: $15/month data sim card 

Total: $515/month 

Additional support from PI:

Additional support can be discussed as per student need