"The Period Company" CAREER and returning home PLANNING

Chevening is looking for individuals who have a clear post-study career plan. Outline your immediate plans upon returning home and your longer term career goals, considering how these relate to UK priorities in your country.

ˇ Energy security
Climate change
Urban development
Defense
Security
Foreign policy
Trade and investment
Economic reforms
Research and innovation

My immediate plan upon returning home is to expand "The Period Company", the social organization I have co-founded. It focuses on spreading female health awareness, as well as advocating the use of Menstrual cups, among the urban and peri-urban populations. Considering the discrepancy in healthcare quality in India, our plan is to implement broad-based awareness programs aimed at providing accessible and economical reproductive health services for women. The plan is to release the program in stages, starting with the urban population. We will then tackle the countless without shelter that dot the Indian cityscape, before moving on to the peri-urban and rural sectors.

To be more precise, the first implementation once I return will be to establish the research and development team in our enterprise. Thus far I have conducted a survey of 350 women regarding their knowledge of and experiences with menstrual health. Once I analyze my data thoroughly with the appropriate methods, I intend to approach the government with two proposals. The first will be the institution of urban public facility plans, catering specifically to menstrual hygiene concerns. Once this task is accomplished, my next goal will be to present a proposal recommending a provision of an online platform for the procurement of contraceptive pills, backed up with statistical validation for the need for such a service. In order to execute this I require Policy formulation and health care management qualifications, which is exactly what a masters' degree in Public Health will give me.

In addition to bringing seismic changes in women's health and hygiene facilitation, my long term goals include addressing the discrimination in India's palliative care system. Palliative care, neglected by policy-makers for decades, has finally made palpable progress in recent years. However, many challenges still remain such as poor infrastructure, limited outreach, understaffed clinics and under-trained caregivers. I am currently working on a research protocol for 'outcome assessment of chronic illness management at home'. I intend to translate the information of this study and the ones to come into meaningful field work, with the help of research training my masters' degree will provide.

With my passion for macroscopic, population-impact oriented work, I endeavour to formulate research-driven health impact modules to reduce the barriers towards healthcare, be it geographical, cultural, socio-economical or lingual. In the long run, I hope to utilize my entrepreneurial platform to formulate effective policies for health facilities for women, in conjunction with expanding the palliative care system available to initially the urban and then rural poor. Urban development with Research and innovation are vital parts of the UK's priorities in India, and considering my career plans are targeted towards health and hygiene provisions in urban settings through research and innovation, this scholarship will help me in working towards achieving these priorities cherished by both our countries.

I really admire the work you want to do in your home country regarding women's issues Farzana. These are very noble undertakings that I am sure will have a long term positive effect on the lives of women in your country. The career plans that you have are very well threshed out so we just need to make a few adjustments regarding the time frame and content. The scholarship reviewer normally wants to see how driven you are to succeed by your use of specific numbers to signify the amount of time / years that you plan on doing things until you reach the ultimate goal. So normally, you give the ultimate goal statement at the beginning, then go back to your short term goal and discuss the progression of the career from there.

For example, how long to do you think it will take you to expand the Period Company to the point where you will be finally satisfied with the work that the company is doing? Let's call this your ultimate career goal covering a period of 20 years. This should be the embodiment of all of the training and knowledge that you will gather over the years. So save the long paragraph discussion related to the company for the very last part.

In the meantime, try to develop your immediate short range discussion covering a period of 5 -7 years.You can decide best which part of the essay fits this time frame. Just adjust the content to display the specific number of years for each project that you will be implementing. From what I have read, your first implementation should be enough to cover that time frame.

The 7-10 year plan should be indicated to cover the changes in female health and hygiene facilities. Since this requires research and a socio-political initiative, it just might take you that long to implement such a project. Call this a part of your mid range plans in the essay. Remember, we are looking at a 20 year plan for your career.

Your 20 year plan should cover the last paragraph of the essay. Explain that after 20 years, you hope to have the Period Company become a self-sustaining international NGO with affiliates worldwide. Modify the contents of your final paragraph to help support this idea. When presented this way, your career plans upon returning home will certainly be an impressive plan of action.

I hope Ive done what you had in mind. Ill write this all over again if you think it's failing to grip readers :

The ultimate goal I have for my career is to expand "The Period Company", the social enterprise I have co-founded, into a self-sustaining establishment with global recognition and affiliates. This, I believe, I will achieve by the year 2025.

In order to achieve this long-term goal I have chartered out target milestones along our path. My focus in the first three years, is to spread menstrual health awareness and improve sanitary waste management in India, since we have no specific structured processes in place. Currently, less than 10% of Indian women have access to basic menstrual management products. Our first milestone will be to bring this up to 13% by 2020 having commenced work in 2015. I have begun by advocating the use of menstrual cups which is a simple, reusable and therefore sustainable option with zero sanitary waste generation. Addressing the discrepancy in healthcare quality in India, the plan is broad-based awareness programs, collaborating with institutions and the health ministry. The initial phases will begin with the urban population followed by the countless without shelter that dot the Indian cityscape.

In October 2017, upon my return to India, which is when the company will receive it's second monetary investment, the first plan I will put into action will be, the establishment of the research and development team in our enterprise. I expect to have presentable data by 2021 and approach the health ministry with a proposal for urban public facility planning, specifically with menstrual hygiene management innovations and sanitary waste disposal methods backed up with researched, statistically validated information. If I accomplish this, we would have covered more than half the distance to our long-term goal.

In addition to bringing seismic changes in women's health and hygiene facilities, my long term goal includes addressing the discrimination in India's palliative care system. Neglected by policy-makers for decades, this public health stream has seen palpable progress only in recent years. Several challenges remain, namely poor infrastructure, limited outreach, understaffed clinics and under-trained caregivers. I am currently formulating a research protocol on 'outcome assessment of health care provided at home'. This study will continue for the tenure of a year. I intend to utilize the information extracted to drive home-healthcare provision into the health policies in India. The implementation of this will largely reduce hospital loads, maintain patient satisfaction and yet allow optimum facility usage.

With my passion for macroscopic, population-impact oriented work, I endeavour to formulate research-driven health impact modules, reducing the barriers towards healthcare. In the long run, I envision using my entrepreneurial platform to formulate policies for health facilities for women, in conjunction with expanding the palliative care system available to initially the urban and then rural poor. Urban development with Research and innovation are vital parts of the UK's priorities in India. Considering my career plans are targeted towards health and hygiene facility development in urban settings, through research and innovation, this scholarship will help me in working towards achieving these priorities cherished by both our countries.