Training of Trainers - Workshop at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KAHER, Belagavi, 22nd to 24th July 2025

Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for medical educators, was attended by thirty medical educators from various clinical disciplines.

On the first day, Prof. U. Vindhya conducted a sessions covering fundamental concepts such as the difference between sex and gender, and discussions on gender norms, roles, stereotypes, and intersectionality. Dr Arjun led the session on "Understanding Gender as a Social Determinant of Health," which examined how gender influences health disparities and healthcare access. Later in the day, Vinay Chandaran facilitated a virtual session on "Unveiling the Unique Health Needs of LGBTQIA+ Communities." All the speakers used participatory activities and real-world examples to make the sessions engaging and relevant​.

Second day began with U. Vindhya leading a session on ‘Gender-based violence’, where she emphasized the health consequences of violence and the therapeutic and medico-legal responses to domestic violence, utilizing the LIVES approach. Followed by a session on the ‘Role of HCPs in Abortion and POCSO’, where she facilitated a discussion on Abortion as a gender issue. She used real-life case studies to examine the multiple barriers women face in accessing abortion services ranging from provider bias and documentation challenges to mandatory reporting under the POCSO Act. The third session, conducted by the Dr Arjun focused on "Debating Family Planning and Contraception Use in India," highlighting unmet contraceptive needs among diverse populations. The final session was conducted by Nidhi Goyal virtually on ‘Understanding Intersections of Gender and Disability’, highlighting the complexities of how gender and disability intersect.

On third day, Dr. Manisha Gohel facilitated a session on ‘Ethics in Medical Practice’, followed by a dedicated session on integrating gender in undergraduate (UG) teaching, where participants discussed how to integrate gender in UG teaching. In the final part of the day, participants prepared and presented lesson plans, showcasing how they would incorporate gender perspectives into their lesson plans.

The workshop concluded with reflections and a valedictory function, marking the end of an impactful three-day event. The training set a strong foundation for future initiatives aimed at fostering gender-sensitive medical education in the state of Karnataka.

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