993- India- India Primary Health Care Support Initiative (IPSI)

a. The India Primary Health Care Support Initiative (IPSI) was established in July 2020 under a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Initiative is led by the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in partnership with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Delhi. National Health Systems Resource Center (NHSRC) is the nodal agency for this project, on behalf of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, and IPSI is working closely with NHSRC and MoHFW.
IPSI aims to support MoHFW in developing a framework to assess the performance of the Primary Health Care system in India. IPSI will also support one district each from the three states- Gujarat, Odisha and Meghalaya to strengthen the delivery of Comprehensive Primary Health Care and improve the primary healthcare system’s performance.
To achieve its objectives in creating a Primary Health Care focused ecosystem in India, IPSI will work on the following three “pillars”:
1. Measure: develop and deploy a state and district-level performance measurement index for assessing primary health care performance which integrates the primary health care approach and components of the HWC operational guidelines issued by MoHFW.
2. Demonstrate: provide design, implementation and capacity building support to the three selected states and one district from each state for improving primary health care system performance and coverage of the 12 packages of services at HWCs.
3. Recognize: Reward district performance improvement efforts towards HWC implementation and primary health care outcomes.

The student will primarily be responsible for tasks related to the Demonstrate pilar of IPSI’s work, where IPSI has partnered with the government to provide technical support related to the implementation of the HWC program in 5 states in India. Specific tasks will be dependent on the stage of the project during the placement, but may include research, data cleaning and analysis, and manuscript writing. The student may also work on the Measurement and Demonstrate pillars depending on the project needs at the time. There may be the opportunity to visit IPSI project sites throughout the country if the student’s timeline aligns with site visits.

The professional environment of this placement is highly collaborative and supportive. While in the Delhi office, there will be daily meetings/discussions/brainstorming sessions to discuss project performance and goals. The team values hearing new perspectives and opinions and everyone on the team is willing to help each other out when needed.

This placement would be a good fit for someone who wants to gain in-depth knowledge of the primary health care landscape in India. Within the Demonstrate pillar, this project will allow the student to work within the implementation and monitoring of health system strengthening interventions. IPSI partners with state governments and academic institutions, allowing the student to gain exposure to a variety of stakeholders in PHC. There will be the opportunity to build skills in data analysis, research, and project management.

Name: Krishna Rao, Department of International Health, kdrao@jhu.edu

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

Supportive, interested, and engaged.

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

Hardworking, curious, and capable of independent work

$1,000

Stipend available