Infinite Ability is a special interest group on disability within the

Medical Humanities ''Medical Humanities'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of medical humanities. The journal presents the international conversation around medicine and its engagement with the humanities and arts, social sciences, hea ...

Group of the

University College of Medical Sciences University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) is a medical college in Delhi, India, affiliated with the University of Delhi. It is associated with Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, which serves as the teaching hospital. History The University College ...

(

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

). It was founded by Dr Satendra Singh in 2011. The main purpose behind the formation of the group was the promotion and coordination among medical persons with disabilities of medical humanitarian approaches that would focus on four competency-based learning objectives of

narrative medicine Narrative Medicine is the discipline of applying the skills used in analyzing literature to interviewing patients. The premise of narrative medicine is that how a patient speaks about his or her illness or complaint is analogous to how literature ...

graphic medicine Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...

; interpersonal and communication skills; patient care, and

professionalism A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

. The mission of the group is to explore disability through

disability studies Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability," where impairment was an impairment of an individual ...

and creativity and to achieve it the group organized the first ever

Theatre of the Oppressed The Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) describes theatrical forms that the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal first elaborated in the 1970s, initially in Brazil and later in Europe. Boal was influenced by the work of the educator and theoris ...

workshop for medical students in India. The group was also instrumental in organizing a unique 'Blind with Camera' workshop for the visually impaired and blind students of

in 2012. The workshop by Partho Bhowmick was followed by a two-week-long exhibition of photographs taken by visually impaired in accessible format. Partho Bhowmick training a visually impaired

Partho Bhowmick training a visually impaired

Dr Satendra Singh, founder of the group and Coordinator of the

Enabling Unit The Enabling Unit, Equal Opportunity Cell is based at University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi. It ensures affirmative action’s concerning persons with disabilities including students, nonteaching staff, faculty ...

, challenged the erroneous correlation of

Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New Y ...

's birthday with World Polio Day. His publication in the journal 'Vaccine' clears the air with appropriate references and contributes to correction of literature. His persistent advocacy also lead

Medical Council of India The Medical Council of India (MCI) was a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India until its dissolution on 25 September 2020 when it was replaced by National Medical Commission. The Council grante ...

to send directives to all the medical institutions in India to make the medical institutions 'accessible' to persons with disabilities.{{cite news, title=MCI asks all medical institutions to be ‘accessible’, url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/mci-asks-all-medical-institutions-to-be-accessible/article4628862.ece, accessdate=21 April 2013, newspaper=The Hindu, date=18 April 2013

References

External links

Infinite Ability Home page
Medical humanities Organizations established in 2011 Disability organisations based in India Organisations based in Delhi Delhi University Disability studies 2011 establishments in Delhi