Building a Movement – Dr. Girish Lad’s Vision for Psycho-Oncology

After reflections from Dr. Bhagwat and Dr. Deglurkar, this chapter takes us to the heart of the Psycho-Oncology revolution, where it all began.

At the convocation of the world’s first Post Graduate Diploma in Psycho-Oncology, the founder himself, Dr. Girish Lad, took the stage. For the graduates, faculty, and awardees gathered in the room, his speech was a journey through dreams, doubts, setbacks, and breakthroughs, and the making of something that had never been done before.

From Saving Lives to Healing Minds

Dr. Girish Lad is no stranger to impact. Known as the "Father of a Million Girls" for his pioneering invention Save the Baby Girl, he is credited with helping prevent over a million female foeticides across India. After over two decades of developing tech solutions for social change, he turned his attention to mental health and founded the Texas School of Mental Health in 2019, later expanding it to India, the Netherlands, and the UAE.

What followed was years of studying psychology, philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita, and human behavior. This led to the creation of something the world had never seen before, an academic program combining cancer care and mental health in one integrated, global curriculum.

Dr. Girish Lad alongside his dedicated team.

The Challenge: Building a Program for the Unspoken

Speaking with pride and humility, Dr. Lad recalled how the journey of building the Psycho-Oncology program was anything but easy.

“It took us over two years just to get the syllabus right. There were days when teams worked for six months and we had to scrap it and start again.”

This wasn’t just another mental health course. It was about creating a curriculum that could hold grief, body image issues, fear of death, hope, stigma, and family dynamics. And it had to work across cultures, languages, and age groups.

From children to the elderly, from rural villages to metro cities, cancer affects people differently. And so does its emotional toll.

Students, Faculty, and a Global Experiment in Learning

Dr. Lad praised the first graduating batch for their patience, positivity, and commitment to shaping the course as it evolved. He acknowledged the 30-plus faculty members, each an expert in their own domain, and the 500 hours of lectures that were carefully recorded, curated, and edited into 230 hours of structured content.

“This was not a classroom. It was a conversation. A collaborative learning lab that spanned continents.”

He shared how real cancer survivors and caregivers were invited to share their stories as part of the training. This gave students direct insight into the lived experience of trauma, resilience, and healing.

He also thanked the behind-the-scenes teams, from tech to content, editing to support, who ensured that students didn’t just learn theory but experienced a deeply visual, interactive, and meaningful education.

Pioneering a New Model of Online Education

One of the most remarkable achievements Dr. Lad highlighted was how this program became a benchmark in online mental health education.

“Normally, even in a Master’s program, you might have five or six faculty members. Here, we had over thirty, each teaching their specialty. That’s the power of going online the right way.”

This wasn’t just about video calls and lecture notes. It was a dynamic, visual, emotionally engaging platform with live lectures, practical case studies, quizzes, assignments, and real-time mentoring.

A New Chapter Begins

Toward the end of his speech, Dr. Lad reflected on the scale of what had been achieved.
“We chose the toughest subject, and we built it from the ground up. Now, every other program feels easier.”

He thanked the dignitaries, Dr. Mahesh Bhagwat and Dr. G.B. Deglurkar, for their presence and blessings. He also expressed heartfelt gratitude to his team, the students, and the Rising India Research Foundation for believing in the vision.

This wasn’t just about a diploma. It was about creating a new kind of healthcare professional, someone who sees beyond reports and treatment charts and into the mind and heart of the person fighting cancer.

Stay tuned for Blog 5 – Celebrating courage and compassion: Highlights from the C+ve Awards.