Training
Training Programs of YRGCARE
As the health education programs of YRGCARE progressed in the early 1900’s, there emerged a need for imparting training to all those who have started involving themselves in health education activities, voluntary counselling & testing, HIV-diagosis, clinical management etc. Thus evolved the structured training programs of YRGCARE initially helped by the international experts collaborating with us and later by inhouse trainers. These programs helped in building capacity of medical & paramedical personnel and the NGO’s, teachers, etc.
The following are the categories of training programs offered at YRGCARE:
- Medical Officers training program
- Nurses training
- Technicians training
- VCT training
- Scaling of NGO’s
- Women groups
- Nutritional training
Objective:
To be a resource for organisational and program development and skills building trainings in Sexuality and HIV/AIDS prevention, counselling, laboratory methods and clinical care in the Care, support and mangement of HIV disease in India and other resource limited settings.
To build capacities to use the best public health practices for the prevention, diagnosis and management of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and in prescribing antiretrovital therapies.
To increase access to care and provided scale-up services that promotes quality of life and well-being of families affected by HIV.
Since 1993, YRGCARE has provided the following training programs. Most of the training programs are conducted in English, some programs are conducted in Tamil of Telgu depending upon the participants.
Proceedings:
Care and support in India: Special Focus on YRGCARE. Horizons Report, HIV/AIDS Operations Resesearch. Dec 2002. Horizons Program, Population Council. www.popcouncil.org/horizons/newsletter/horizons_report.html
Summary Report: Expanding Care and Support in South India: Scaling up YRGCARE’s Patient-Centred Approach. YRGCARE, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Horizons Program.
Symposium
Chennai ART Symposium (CART) 2016
The symposium focuses on providing clinicians involved in managing HIV infection and HIV researchers – updates on the current concepts of antiretroviral therapy, newer drugs, their toxicities and resistance. In summary, the symposium helps put into perspective that HIV is now a chronic manageable disease; however issues of stigma and medical neglect continue to prevail With increased efforts to meet the WHO targets of reaching to zero, the India government has merged the Department of National AIDS Control Organisation with the Health Ministry, taking “minimum government, maximum governance” to HIV prevention; thus mainstreaming HIV healthcare programs into other health ministries and departments.
International Science Symposium on HIV & Infectious Diseases
In 2008, the laboratory initiated the first HIV Science Symposium in Chennai, co-sponsored by leading national and international research institutes. Each year, this symposium has grown to include an increasing number of national delegates from renowned universities and institutes; national and international presenters and delegates thus growing into an International Science Symposium in 2012.
Abstracts published in BMC Infectious Diseases (Impact Factor 2.83). The recent 2nd International Science Symposium, on HIV & Infectious Diseases (January 30-February 1, 2014) in Chennai registered 461 delegates (21 international). Accredited by Tamil Nadu Medical Council and Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University which provides CME credits to participants. International faculties (25) and national faculties (14): Dr. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Dr. Jack Whitescarver, (Director, Office of AIDS Research National Institute of Health, USA, and Dr. Carl W. Dieffenbach, Director, Division of AIDS, National Institute of Health (NIH), USA.
Satellite Session on HIV Cure co-organized by IAS, Geneva
Satellite Symposium on “HIV Cure” was organised in conjunction with the HIV SCIENCE 2014 on 31st January 2014. Prof. Françoise (Institut Pasteur, France), Dr. Diana Finzi (NIH, USA), Dr. Asier Sáez-Cirión (Institut Pasteur, France) and Dr. Anna-Laura Ross (IAS, Geneva) presented and Dr. Jack Whitescarver and Prof. Solomon co-chaired.
Chennai ART Symposium (CART) 2014
In recent years, YRGCARE’s clinical research unit has developed several scientific networking initiatives, which serves to provide local expertise and young students with opportunities to stay up-to-date in the care and management of HIV. The 6th Chennai ART Symposium CART 2014 was held April 26-27, 2014 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The symposium addresses a range of topics on antiretroviral therapeutics and HIV co-infections with TB, HBV, HCV and HPV by an expert faculty of over 20 experts from various national and international academia. More than 225 physicians and researchers; ranging from governmental to non-governmental sectors participated.
The symposium focuses on providing clinicians involved in managing HIV infection and HIV researchers – updates on the current concepts of antiretroviral therapy, newer drugs, their toxicities and resistance. In summary, the symposium helps put into perspective that HIV is now a chronic manageable disease; however issues of stigma and medical neglect continue to prevail. With increased efforts to meet the WHO targets of reaching to zero, the India government has merged the Department of National AIDS Control Organisation with the Health Ministry, taking “minimum government, maximum governance” to HIV prevention; thus mainstreaming HIV healthcare programs into other health ministries and departments.
26 April, 2014 -
27 April, 2014
HIV/AIDS Nursing Symposium (HANS)
YRGCARE conducts “HANS” in association with the M.A. Chidambaram College of Nursing over the past few years at their premises within VHS Campus, Taramani. Various HIV patient management issues pertinent to the role of nurses and midwives are presented and discussed. Participants are mainly nursing students, nurses and other nursing personnel from local colleges and hospitals.
The YRGCARE Bioethics Symposium (TYBS)
YRGCARE organises ‘TYBS’ – The YRGCARE Bioethics Symposium”. Over the years, several collaborators have supported this initiative; the National Institute of Epidemiology, ICMR, Chennai, through the National Institutes of Health Project “Centrally coordinated Bioethics Education for India”, the National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), ICMR, Chennai, Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R), Boston, USA. The symposium explores the pressing ethical issues in medical research involving human participants and provides for an interactive dialogue and sharing of experiences of national and international professionals with local researchers and students.
GCLP Workshop on International Standards, ISO15189:2012
YRGCARE regularly organizes Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) 3-day workshops within the city cosponsored by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi. The curriculum includes didactic lectures, interactive sessions, group exercises and case studies. This serves as an opportunity to professionals interested in patient care/health research, developing quality systems and in implementing comprehensive GCLP guidelines.
GCLP Workshop on International Standards, ISO 15189:2012
GCLP outline the principles and procedures to be followed by medical laboratories involved in patient care and/or clinical research so as to provide consistent, reproducible, auditable, and reliable laboratory results; which contribute to good patient care and promote a positive attitude toward testing from a patient’s perspective. This workshop is designed to offer comprehensive guidance for those who are implementing GCLP in their laboratories.
Organized by: YRG Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), Chennai & Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai
Dates: 23-25, March 2017
Venue: Harvard Auditorium, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai
Download Brochure and Registration form HERE
Contact Info: Email: GCLP@yrgcare.org
Educational (Updates, Internships, Fellowship)
YRGCARE provides opportunities for learning and growth to its staff through quarterly updates on clinical, behavioural and laboratory discourses related to HIV and emerging issues. Additionally, it offers short term opportunities to national and international interns and fellowship programs to work with its clinical, laboratory and behavioural science teams.
Fogarty-Ellison International Clinical Research Training Fellowship
The Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the Brown-TUFTS AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP), awarded YRGCARE a twinning opportunity for clinical and public health graduate students from the United States and from YRGCARE. This program provides a one-year clinical research training opportunity for outstanding graduate level US students in health professions with a strong interest in international health and/or clinical research to work along with a young and promising researcher from YRGCARE. Several US and Indian awardees trained during this period.
29 October, 2015 -
31 October, 2015
Symposium
Short Certificate Training Programs
YRGCARE promotes hands-on training and learning by doing. It capitalizes on the richness and diversity of its participants along with the expertise of in-house professionals.
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2007-08
Capacity Building of Avahan-supported State Lead Partners on STI/HIV Counselling Supported by Family Health International as part of Avahan Project
To enhance the capacity of Avahan-supported State Lead Partners (SLPs) on STI/HIV counselling in order to improve the quality and coverage of counseling and referral services. YRGCARE served as key trainers and mentors.
4 Training of trainers programs; 80 Participants; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Mysore, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur.
Assisted in 6 training workshops in other SLPs and Mentoring visits to 9 clinics
The YRGCARE core training team along with rich inputs from the state lead partners developed a set of documents: the Counseling Guidelines and Standards, a Training Toolkit for counsellor and a Monitoring and Supervisory Handbook for Quality Assurance with Quality Indicators.
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2009
HIV Counselling and Testing Training for Laboratory Professionals (HTC)
YRGCARE now offers a short-term 2-day training course on Pre and Post-HIV Test Counselling for laboratory professionals. The training course is based on the National AIDS Control Organisations (NACO) guidelines to ensure implementation of uniformity in counselling and testing services in private laboratories across the country. This serves the requirement of the National Accreditation Board of Laboratories (NABL) to have laboratory staff trained and certified for providing Voluntary counselling and Testing (VCT) services. YRGCARE continues to offer longer term HIV counselling training with hands on experience.
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2010-2012
Women Friendly Treatment Model
Developed a Women Friendly Treatment Model to improve ART adherence for women living with HIV Locations: Andhra Pradesh and Manipur, a grant supported by International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC) and Positive Women’s Network
Key highlights: Networking with healthcare providers, identifying women recently diagnosed and/or initiating ART for the first time, developing module to address key treatment issues, core issues of respect, hope, praise, being healthy and sharing with each other through women-to-women chats, providing continued support and linkages through regular meets.
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2011-2012
Capacity Building on HIV Care, Support and Treatment for Master Trainers
The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai as part of its GFATM Saksham7 Project invited YRGCARE to train a set of Master Trainers for NACO. The goal was to reorient and update knowledge and skills of Master Trainers from all over India. The Master Trainers included professionals from all over the country, involved in teaching and medical professions with a few actively involved indirect HIV public programs.
Two sets of capacity building workshops were conducted in three batches each:
> Psychosocial Issues; 58 counsellor and healthcare workers (2011) and
>> Clinical Issues; 47 physicians and counsellor (2011-12)The training modules for Clinical and Psychosocial Issues are available on request.
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2011-2012
Capacity Building Training on Effective Programme Implementation
Supported by DFID AIDS Technical Assistance Support Team and Futures Group International India Pvt. Ltd. for NACO Under the Short Term Technical Assistance Training to Grantees of Innovation Fund.
Locations: Mumbai, Manipur, Chennai and Kolkata.
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2011-2012
Positive Prevention: Moving Beyond
A curriculum developed and piloted by YRGCARE st for Andhra Pradesh State AIDS Control Society (APSACS) as part of their extension on Targeted Interventions Program to work with persons with high risk behavior who are living with HIV (NACP III)
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2013-2014
Regional Capacity Building Program on Child Centric Techniques
Strengthening Capacity of healthcare workers and students interested in working with pediatrics and adolescents: Much of HIV prevention, advocacy and support starts with training of like-minded persons to provide better care services. There are separate leadership structures, support teams, schedules and roles and responsibilities. However, in the real world, the borders blur. The same issues arise. It’s essential to merge some of these realities
with the newness of the programs that we build and expand our programs to be child-centric and adolescent friendly. We identified some key concepts in child-centric techniques to take our programs to scale. These were mainly supported by the SeriousFun Children’s Network with additional financial support from the MAC AIDS Fund.Between April 2013-Sept 2014, over 188 key personnel from various organisations serving children directly through their HIV and other related support programs including students from leading colleges and universities were trained on child centric techniques with the additional hands on learning of a one-day camp or a 5-day residential camp experience where adult learners had the opportunity to take their learning into practice directly in a safe
environment. These adults hail from the metros of Bangalore and Chennai and neighbouring areas as well as from other large districts of Madurai, Theni and Dindigul. Current Partnerships: CHES, ASHA Foundation, SeriousFun Children’s Network.