Internships at MOHAN Foundation

If you are interested in interning with MOHAN Foundation please send us a covering letter and your resume by email to info@mohanfoundation.org

All Internships are rewarded only to individuals after screening of their application.

The internship may involve some field work. If you wish to undertake any specific project related to organ donation or transplantation you are requested to send us a synopsis of the project along with your application.

In past we have had students and internees from India and abroad for up to a year. Some have done a short stint of 2 week to a year. The time can vary depending on your requirement.

You can work in any one of our locations - Chennai, Hyderabad or Delhi. College credits can be also be awarded on an individual basis.

Thank you for your interest in MOHAN Foundation.

WORK FOR US - Job Opportunities & Internships

Feedback on Internship by Ms. Karen De Looze from Brussels University

I first met Dr. Shroff of MOHAN Foundation in April 2009. I found my way to the office after having explored the entire MOHAN Foundation website that left a big impression on me. I was received with the best of hospitality, and together we looked at ways to cooperate.

Since I am a PhD researcher working for Brussels University working on the topic of brain death and cadaveric organ transfer in India, linking up with MOHAN Foundation just seemed like the right thing to do. Not just did it seem so, it was! The atmosphere at MOHAN Foundation is very gentle and light, notwithstanding the fact that the employees are performing one of the most difficult jobs with great enthusiasm investing all manpower with grace.

Although my field study also requires that I travel to Vrindavan and Varanasi, returning to the MOHAN Foundation office in Chennai regularly always feels like coming home. I feel like working with MOHAN Foundation is like being part of a family where the family ties are the service that is delivered to society at large. I could even enjoy a short visit to MOHAN Foundation in Hyderabad and felt that same bond, of people being united in a joint cause, triggered by loving feelings for the community.

I have been working with MOHAN Foundation ever since that day in April, and my field research will continue until February 2011. I am most certain that I will be sad to end my stay here in Chennai and in extension India, but then again, our cooperation to deliver service to humanity never will.

Organ donation in India - Impressions from a Dutch student

I am a Dutch student in Health information. On the 18th of May, I stepped into a plane full of Indians, leaving for Hyderabad to work in MOHAN Foundation for a period of four months. This internship would constitute the last part of my study. Now, almost at the end of my stay here, I have the feeling that I know the organ donation world in India almost from top to toe.

In the past months, I have been participating in all of MOHAN Foundation’s activities, like giving presentations, distributing information brochures, creating awareness in street campaigns, etcetera. At the same time, I interviewed all kinds of people that are involved in organ donation, like transplant coordinators and patients that received an organ themselves. Furthermore I did a small survey on the awareness on organ donation among the public.

Due to this research I found out quite a few interesting things about organ donation in India. First of all, eye donation is pretty well known now. This procedure had been carried out for some decades now and has become quite common. But more than half of the people are not aware of the concept of organ donation yet. Brain death, which is the condition for organs to be taken out, is known by even less people. On the other hand, after explanation of the concepts of organ donation and brain death most people are very positive about it. After asking the question whether they would be willing to donate their own organs after their death, more than 80% answered this question with yes.

Despite this willingness to donate, far too few organs become available for patients suffering from end stage organ failure. If it’s not the people that refuse to donate, the problem has to lie somewhere else. I experienced that one of the hurdles is the attitude of the hospitals to declare brain death and maintain a brain dead patient. They don’t have a focus on this, because they prefer to provide the bed to another person or are afraid of a scandal (as still organ donation has a bad name in India) and ruin the good name of the hospital. However, at least six people can be saved from this brain dead person!

That’s why I think two things are very important to be done. One thing is to educate the public about organ donation and brain death, and make them aware of the fact that in cadaveric organ donation no trading takes place. Once they are aware of the possibility of organ donation in case of brain death, they will come forward for donation themselves. This would be encouraging to doctors who might then be more willing to make a request for organ donation in other such cases. The other thing is to convince hospitals that it’s important to declare brain death as a standard procedure because so many lives can be saved by the transplants.

And finally, it would be very desirable that the government raises some funds to help people in getting enough resources for the transplant. Currently, no social welfare system is there in India, and as a result poor people can never bear the costs of a transplant. Contradictorily, especially the less wealthy give consent to donate far more often than the richest of society.

In brief, I think there is a long way to go, but at least MOHAN Foundation is doing an excellent job and they are on the right track towards saving many lives of suffering people in India.

Mieke van Kollenburg
Intern in MOHAN Foundation Hyderabad

April 2009 - July 2009	- review of literature (mostly media articles kept by Mohan Foundation since 1996) - interviews with Mohan Foundation staff and counsellors - interviews with families of brain dead donors and families of living donors - participation in an awareness raising program and in the daily activities at Mohan Foundation: "The Office"- visit to Mohan Foundation Hyderabad

May 2010 - February 2011	- interviews with Mohan Foundation staff - participation in grief counselling course - participation in transplant coordinator course