Dr. Kimberley D'Souza is a second-year MD Community Health Postgraduate at St. John's Medical College, Bangalore. Their thesis focuses on community mental health in rural Karnataka, reflecting their passion for public mental health, and addressing healthcare disparities among marginalised communities. An avid musician and traveller, they draw inspiration from diverse cultures and experiences to enrich their work.
This deeply personal essay unpacks the gendered power dynamics in STEM through lived experience, revealing how systemic bias, societal expectations, and erasure of women’s contributions continue to shape who gets to lead—and who gets left behind.
For many people with disabilities that are also queer, seeking medical care often feels like shouting into a void—ignored, misunderstood, and dismissed. Their stories shed light on how the current design of our health system, intersecting with gender, caste, and class, creates deep barriers to access for disabled individuals in India.
In India, mental healthcare is highly inaccessible to almost 70% of the population economically. That, combined with the focus of modern psychiatry on Western culture and pills leaves Indian people significantly underserved as their unique cultural contexts and existing systems of oppression go unaddressed. Here is how we can reimagine a model of mental health accessible to all.