Overview

Women in India have a long history of systematic marginalization and inequality. Discrimination is experienced through the life cycle (from sex selection to nutritional & educational bias) including expectation of unpaid / underpaid care giving roles. At the same time, women form the backbone of the Indian public healthcare system working mostly at grassroots level, but are in few numbers represented at the administrative and leadership levels. One million high school girls in India today appear for the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) to join MBBS or BDS courses and aspire to become doctors. However, only 15 thousand of them secure seats in the coveted MBBS/BDS programmes, the first degree in general medicine and dentistry respectively. This is a loss of skilled human talent who can go on to create significant impact as caregivers or play a key role in the transformation of healthcare in the country. DoctorBeti is a platform for young girls who aspire to build a career in healthcare. Our mission at DoctorBeti is to develop this aspiration pool of young and ambitious girls emerging year-on year to succeed in the field of healthcare. DoctorBeti will provide opportunities for girls from poor and marginalised groups to travel their aspirational journey from school to vocational courses and college to career opportunities. Through a holistic approach, DoctorBeti will focus on community engagement for creating an enabling environment; access to certificate programs for unexplored opportunities in healthcare; support for online coaching (medical entrance exams), mentorship; and support by a diverse network of women healthcare professionals.