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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0523

Factors facilitating the Rockefeller Foundation's approach to improving medical education in India, 1910–1955

FACILITATORS OF THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION’S APPROACH TO IMPROVING MEDICAL EDUCATION IN INDIA, 1910-1955

The Rockefeller Foundation's medical education initiatives in India were facilitated by political support for strong central government and welfare spending, alongside the country's long-standing philanthropic tradition and the support of influential physicians, administrators, and politicians.

The study aims to deepen understanding of the Rockefeller Foundation's initiatives to improve medical education and practice in India between 1910 and 1955. The success of the Foundation's disease eradication programs required well-trained public health personnel, prompting it to promote a scientific approach within medical culture worldwide. Using a social history methodology, primary sources were obtained from the Bodleian Archives and Manuscripts in Oxford, the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, the National Library of Medicine and Archives in Washington, the Rockefeller Foundation Archives in New York, and the United Nations Library and Archives in Geneva. Contemporary journals and newspapers were also reviewed, alongside searches of electronic databases such as the Lind Library, the Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE. The findings indicate that influential physicians, administrators, and politicians were willing to facilitate the Foundation's initiatives, while the Congress Party sought a strong central government capable of addressing India's social, health, and economic problems. Nationalists advocated increased welfare spending, including on mental health, and the alignment of health education with the country's needs. Culturally, India's strong tradition of philanthropy and charitable giving, which persisted through the colonial and post-independence periods, encouraged many industrialists, administrators, and politicians to support the Foundation's efforts. Support grew for the state's obligation to protect its citizens' health, medical education was important to both Gandhi and Nehru, and the Foundation drew on existing facilitating factors to overcome numerous obstacles and successfully implement initiatives to improve standards of medical education and practice.

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