Beyond Household Allocation: Reimagining the Family Adoption Programme for Rural and Hilly India

Abstract

The transition to Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) in India marked a paradigm shift in undergraduate medical training, emphasizing community orientation, patient-centered learning, and social accountability. Among its most innovative components is the Family Adoption Programme (FAP), introduced by the National Medical Commission (NMC) to provide medical students with sustained engagement with families and communities from the earliest stages of their training. The programme seeks to bridge the longstanding gap between classroom teaching and real-world public health practice by enabling students to understand the social determinants of health, disease patterns, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and barriers to healthcare access within community settings.