The revised 2021 curriculum for Family Medicine residency in India includes dedicated Rural Generalist training components related to theory, practice, residency rotation, and career pathways.  

Rural Generalist Medicine is one of the 47 identified syllabus topic areas and Rural Generalist terminology is used extensively throughout the curriculum. Similar to the FACRRM, the program includes minimum rotations in family practice, emergency medicine, obstetrics and other secondary care areas and includes a focus on population health.

Dr Raman Kumar, Chair of the Family Medicine Curriculum Committee for the National Board of Examinations, and Chair of the Specialist Board in Family Medicine for the Indian Ministry of Health, has advised the revised curriculum has been refined to maintain the distinction of the family medicine concept as well as to address the specific need of a large country like India.   

Our College members including former ACRRM Presidents, Dr Bruce Chater and Dr Ewen McPhee and CEO, Marita Cowie, have enjoyed working with Dr Kumar as fellow members of WONCA Rural and its associated program of World Rural Health Conferences. WONCA Rural, is the rural working party of WONCA, the peak body representing the world’s family doctors. College representatives have been members of the working party since its inception and ACRRM has hosted two of the previous World Rural Health Conferences.    

Dr Kumar identified the rapid development of the revised curriculum and a range of positive outcomes for family practice in India as a direct impact and outcome of the 15th World Rural Health Conference held in New Delhi in India (2018).

The most recent conference, the 17th World Rural Health Conference, endorsed the ‘Bangladesh Declaration 2021’ which gave special mention to ACRRM’s world-leading curriculum while highlighting the importance of the Rural Generalist model in advancing world rural health. The Declaration details a blueprint for advancing rural health. It emphasises the need for rural medical training that is based on programs, such as ACRRM’s, that are set within a rural context and focus specifically on effective rural practice. It also recommends this training be undertaken at undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. The Declaration also identifies that family medicine for rural health should be aimed at producing Rural Generalists who can provide comprehensive, whole-person and continuous care in rural areas. The Declaration states that this objective should be supported by similar initiatives in rural midwifery, nursing, and allied health professions, while also being applicable in other health professions.