a) Rural India has a major shortage of doctors with the doctor/patient ratio averaging 1:11,000 (vs WHO standard of 1:1000).
b) The sheer cost of medical education forces doctors to pursue lucrative careers in urban areas to pay off their student debts.
c) Admission into medical colleges is extremely competitive, 1.3M students apply to get selected to fill 88,000 seats in 600 colleges each year.
d) Less than 5% annual admissions are from rural areas.
Our goal is to create more rural doctors by enabling rural students to get high quality medical education at no cost to them. By providing tuition, lodging, boarding, books, medical supplies, clinical equipment, etc. completely free of cost, rural students will realize their dream of becoming doctors. We are counting on their rural roots, their sense of gratitude for free education, and the values inculcated during education, to inspire them to give back to rural India.
Capex ($15M for infrastructure) is being funded by high net-worth philanthropists, visionary
individual donors, Foundations, and Government grants. Opex (funding for operations) will be funded
through medical student scholarship and hospital bed sponsorship programs sponsored by people like you and me, doctors
practicing in the US (Doctor-4-Doctor program), Corporates (thanks to 2% CSR mandate in India), Government support for
education, as well as philanthropic Foundations and high net-worth individuals.
| Sources of Operating Expenses over 5 years (500 doctors) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funding source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
| Corporates (CSR) | 25% | 30% | 36% | 40% | 40% |
| Medical Student scholarships | 5% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
| Individual donors/HNIs | 30% | 25% | 20% | 14% | 12% |
| Foundation grants | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% |
| Government programs | 15% | 15% | 15% | 17% | 19% |
a) All students must pass India’s NEET exam (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) to be considered for enrollment
b) Their domicile must be in a rural area
c) Their family meets the government criteria for low-income
d) They pass an aptitude test to serve in rural areas long-term
e) Students will sign a bond to serve for 5 years in rural areas
a) If we charge some students & not others, we end up creating two classes of students, based on their ability to pay, which in turn leads to differing expectations, sense of gratitude, and an unhealthy social environment among students.
b) Those who pay for their education, will have no obligation and cannot be bound by any rural service bond or contract.
c) A consistent, free model will ensure integrity and purity of purpose, encourage student enrollment from the poorest rural families, and avoid distinctions based on ability to pay.
As a condition of enrollment, students and parents will sign a bond/contract mandating 5 years of rural service after MBBS. If they pursue specialty (3 years) and super-specialty (3 years) education in the same medical campus, they will be required to work in a rural area for additional 3+3 years. If they are unable to fulfill this bond, they must pay back all applicable costs.
If a student decides to take a high-paying urban job or go abroad, he/she will not receive clearance from the college for a job or a visa application until he/she pays back the full amount invested for their medical education, i.e. USD 150,000 or INR 1.2 Crore, plus interest, which covers the student’s direct costs ($6K/year) and the teaching hospital bed maintenance costs ($24K/year).
Yes, students from all of rural India can try for admission. After graduation, they can choose to do their 5 years of rural service in any part of rural India.
The medical college has been approved by the National Medical Commission (NMC) in February 2023. The 1st batch of 100 students will be enrolled in July 2023, followed by 100 students each year thereafter.
a) The faculty selection committee includes senior doctors who have served rural populations in hospitals providing free medical/surgical care, as well as medical educators from well-known institutions.
b) All faculty candidates undergo a thorough screening process and multiple rounds of interviews before they are offered faculty positions.
c) Besides professional achievements, we also look for their experience with rural populations, their willingness to teach rural students, and their ability to role model the values of compassionate care.
d) Hired faculty members will be offered subsidized local accommodation and their children will also have access to free-of-cost, values-based, high-quality education.
e) Since this rural college is located about 2 hours from Bangalore, just off the national highway, it is easily accessible for those residing in and around Bangalore.
f) All criteria for medical college faculty staffing have been fulfilled as per NMC requirements.
Yes, any amount is acceptable. All contributions are tax-deductible in the USA. Contributions are accepted for both Capex (the infrastructure build and medical equipment) and Opex (operating the college).
a) You can support a rural student scholarship for the 5 year course, at $6K/ year (for 5 years), or $30K as a one-time donation, which cover the direct student costs, namely hostel and food, text books, educational materials, etc. pertaining to the student.
b) You can support the operational costs of a hospital bed including patient treatment at $24K/year (for 5 years). Each bed/patient is part of the Medical College Teaching hospital and hence supports the medical students learning opportunity.
c) You can support one student’s costs and one hospital bed operational costs for a combined contribution of $30K/year (for 5 years), ie. sum of a) and b) above.
d) You can support the installation costs of a hospital bed and related medical equipment at $60K (one- time payment). All contributions can be made in lump sum or on monthly basis, given by an individual, family or a group pooling together. Further details may be found on the H2H website (www.h2h.foundation or dr4dr.org), see #11 below.
One may donate online via PayPal or by check or wire transfer. For details of wire transfer, please contact us directly at info.usa@h2h.foundation.
For online participation by check, please use following link and mention "medical scholarship" or
medical college " under comments:
(Monthly donations can be set up by logging in to PayPal) donations)
Donation Link
H2H foundation is based in Santa Clara, CA. All donations are tax deductible in the US since H2H is an approved charity under 501 c (3) of IRS.
For Dr4Dr medical scholarship ($30K/student over 5 years), 75% goes to student's personal expenses (books, food, room, etc.) 25% goes to educational materials
Upon request, we can provide audited financial statements with all details and schedules. The financial statement of our partner charities in India (who receive the funds) go through the scrutiny of Indian Income tax officers and as well as Foreign Contribution Regulation Act department (“FCRA”).
Broadly, the FCRA requires every Indian NGO seeking to receive foreign donations to be (i) registered under the Act, (ii) to open a bank account for the receipt of the foreign funds in State Bank of India, Delhi, and (iii) to utilize those funds only for the purpose for which they have been received. The Indian charity Trust is subject to FCRA audits regularly. Most recently, a surprise 5 year audit was conducted in 2021 and no issues were raised by the FCRA audit team.
a) H2H Foundation is chaired by renowned Indian Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, ably supported by a Board of experienced professionals and a team of seasoned leaders and experts from industry, medical and academic fields. Please see: About Us
b) H2H Foundations and its sister organizations have built several rural hospitals and rural (non-medical) educational campuses in India over the past decade or so. Notable accomplishments include:
- Over 500,000 rural outpatients served in 8 hospitals
- Over 24,000 cardiac surgeries on children with congenital heart disease
- Over 1.2M children attending rural Government schools served free breakfast or nutrition supplements each
morning
- Over 5,000 rural students receiving free schooling in 30+ rural campuses
- 40 corporate partners who fund our programs through their CSR schemes
- $220M of funds raised over the past 11 years from Foundations and Trusts, HNIs, Philanthropists, Government
programs, Corporates (CSR programs)