@article {Soni152, author = {Apurv Soni and Nisha Fahey and Abraham Jaffe and Shyamsundar Raithatha and Nitin Raithatha and Anusha Prabhakaran and Tiffany A Moore Simas and Nancy Byatt and Jagdish Vankar and Michael Chin and Ajay G Phatak and Shirish Srivastava and David D McManus and Eileen O{\textquoteright}Keefe and Harshil Patel and Niket Patel and Dharti Patel and Michaela Tracey and Jasmine A Khubchandani and Haley Newman and Allison Earon and Hannah Rosenfield and Anna Handorf and Brittany Novak and John Bostrom and Anindita Deb and Soaham Desai and Dipen Patel and Archana Nimbalkar and Kandarp Talati and Milagros Rosal and Patricia McQuilkin and Himanshu Pandya and Heena P Santry and Sunil Thanvi and Utpala Kharod and Melissa Fischer and Jeroan Allison and Somashekhar M Nimbalkar}, title = {RAHI{\textendash}SATHI Indo-U.S. Collaboration: The Evolution of a Trainee-Led Twinning Model in Global Health Into a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Program}, volume = {5}, number = {1}, pages = {152--163}, year = {2017}, doi = {10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00190}, publisher = {Global Health: Science and Practice}, abstract = {RAHI{\textendash}SATHI presents an innovative twinning model of global health academic partnership, resulting in a number of successful research activities, that features trainees or students as the driving force, complemented by strategic institutional support from both sides of the partnership. Others can promote similar student-led initiatives by: (1) accepting an expanded role for trainees in global health programs, (2) creating structured research and program opportunities for trainees, (3) developing a network of faculty and trainees interested in global health, (4) sharing extramural global health funding opportunities with faculty and trainees, and (5) offering seed funding.Background: In recent years there has been a surge in the number of global health programs operated by academic institutions. However, most of the existing programs describe partnerships that are primarily faculty-driven and supported by extramural funding.Program Description: Research and Advocacy for Health in India (RAHI, or {\textquotedblleft}pathfinder{\textquotedblright} in Hindi) and Support and Action Towards Health-Equity in India (SATHI, or {\textquotedblleft}partnership{\textquotedblright} in Hindi) are 2 interconnected, collaborative efforts between the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Charutar Arogya Mandal (CAM), a medical college and a tertiary care center in rural western India. The RAHI{\textendash}SATHI program is the culmination of a series of student/trainee-led research and capacity strengthening initiatives that received institutional support in the form of faculty mentorship and seed funding. RAHI{\textendash}SATHI{\textquoteright}s trainee-led twinning approach overcomes traditional barriers faced by global health programs. Trainees help mitigate geographical barriers by acting as a bridge between members from different institutions, garner cultural insight through their ability to immerse themselves in a community, and overcome expertise limitations through pre-planned structured mentorship from faculty of both institutions. Trainees play a central role in cultivating trust among the team members and, in the process, they acquire personal leadership skills that may benefit them in their future careers.Conclusion: This paradigm of trainee-led twinning partnership promotes sustainability in an uncertain funding climate and provides a roadmap for conducting foundational work that is essential for the development of a broad, university-wide global health program.}, URL = {https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/5/1/152}, eprint = {https://www.ghspjournal.org/content/5/1/152.full.pdf}, journal = {Global Health: Science and Practice} }