TY - JOUR T1 - RAHI–SATHI Indo-U.S. Collaboration: The Evolution of a Trainee-Led Twinning Model in Global Health Into a Multidisciplinary Collaborative Program JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 152 LP - 163 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-16-00190 VL - 5 IS - 1 AU - Apurv Soni AU - Nisha Fahey AU - Abraham Jaffe AU - Shyamsundar Raithatha AU - Nitin Raithatha AU - Anusha Prabhakaran AU - Tiffany A Moore Simas AU - Nancy Byatt AU - Jagdish Vankar AU - Michael Chin AU - Ajay G Phatak AU - Shirish Srivastava AU - David D McManus AU - Eileen O'Keefe AU - Harshil Patel AU - Niket Patel AU - Dharti Patel AU - Michaela Tracey AU - Jasmine A Khubchandani AU - Haley Newman AU - Allison Earon AU - Hannah Rosenfield AU - Anna Handorf AU - Brittany Novak AU - John Bostrom AU - Anindita Deb AU - Soaham Desai AU - Dipen Patel AU - Archana Nimbalkar AU - Kandarp Talati AU - Milagros Rosal AU - Patricia McQuilkin AU - Himanshu Pandya AU - Heena P Santry AU - Sunil Thanvi AU - Utpala Kharod AU - Melissa Fischer AU - Jeroan Allison AU - Somashekhar M Nimbalkar Y1 - 2017/03/24 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/5/1/152.abstract N2 - RAHI–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 “pathfinder” in Hindi) and Support and Action Towards Health-Equity in India (SATHI, or “partnership” 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–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–SATHI'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. ER -