We have talked about MIEF’s seminar in science popularization in AMU before and had discussed about youth and science. While that was quite understandable, we have a unique ‘segment’ to share insights on today- the medical fraternity, by Dr. Rakhi Mehra, Director, Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
At first it’s surprising that this community should need more ‘science popularization’ considering that’s the field they work in. But Dr Mehra had the following insights, which made us think:
- First, the medical fraternity is quite broad and also consists of information officers, science writers, web designers, science journalists, practitioners, professionals, decision making managers, policy makers, academicians, researchers apart from doctors, nurses and they may be only occasionally involved
- Increasingly psychosocial, cultural and ethical aspects of healthcare in contemporary societies are necessary to deal with
According to Dr. Mehra, there are several initiatives that needed to be pushed for to make these challenges easier to be dealt with- which we do realise, now would not be very different from ‘science popularization’ projects in other segments. These included:
- Publishing evidence-based, data-driven original studies with practical application and relevance are the key guiding principles
- Using different communications media: including exhibitions, conferences, storytelling, films etc. to increase outreach and collaboration
- Push towards an interdisciplinary audience, which could include healthcare professionals, researchers and students in the medical, social and human sciences.
We think these are great ideas and thought starters for all of us to think through towards creating a more holistic health oriented and scientific society! Don’t you think?