Dr Rob Russell Appointed as Visiting Professor at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education, Chennai

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The FPHC’s association with Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Chennai, started in 2019 following an approach by the UK charity Saving Lives International (SLI).  The request was for pre-hospital training as part of SLI’s wider focus on improving disaster preparedness and response in Low and Middle Income countries (LMICs).  This resulted in Dr David Bruce and Dr Rob Russell undertaking a scoping visit to Chennai for discussions with Professor TV Ramakrishnan at SRIHER, an overview of current pre-hospital care delivery and initiatives to develop training.

Since those initial steps, FPHC Pre-Hospital Trauma Care (PHTC) Provider and Instructor Courses have been delivered in India and Nepal.  Initial courses were delivered by a small number of UK faculty but the ambition was always to select and train local subject matter experts so that the course would become self-sustaining with local ownership underpinned by FPHC clinical governance oversight.  Two courses have now been wholly delivered by local faculty in Chennai and, having now held a Provider Course at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Guwahati, Assam, there is the impetus to train Instructors in NE India.  Rob Russell, who is now the FPHC’s International Development Lead, has been involved in the delivery of all these courses either on site or remotely providing guidance.

His unswerving support to the development of pre-hospital care training in India, and at SRIHER specifically, has been recognised by him being appointed as a Visiting Professor to the Institute.  The FPHC pass on many congratulations and thanks to Rob for his contributions and efforts in extending the international reach of the faculty. 

This work has been financed from the beginning through the UK charity SLI for which we are very grateful; the FPHC signed a Letter of Intent with SLI in November 2025 at the Conference.  The aims of SLI are to deliver humanitarian assistance, support disaster recovery, and strengthen clinical capacity in Disaster Medicine across LMICs.


Author: Dr David Bruce, Chair FPHC Training and Standards Committee.