The word ‘future’ has always been a source of
great worry to the over burdened and long unemployed medicos. When some of our
engineering friends get ‘placed’ and go on to post status updates about the
first salary of their lives, we are still in final year fighting tooth and nail
to at least pass and finally earn the long coveted MBBS degree.
Many people told us that life will be “set”
after you enter MBBS but it was when we finally came to med school that we
realized that life out here is actually full of “setbacks”. The long course
duration, the huge syllabus, the long practical classes and clinical postings,
the lack of holidays all sum up to make life difficult and at times depressing
for med students. But these problems have been there for years, these have been
dealt with, by our seniors before us and will be faced by us and our juniors
too. We have been made to realize by seniors and professors that the syllabus
that we read as well as the clinical postings and practical classes we must
attend are an important and necessary part of medical education. We know that five
and half years is in fact the minimum amount of time that we need to give
ourselves to learn properly. This is because at the end of the day the
knowledge that we gain must help to save lives at the most precarious
conditions.
As per the new NMC guidelines, NEXT exam is set
to take place in the month of November this year. It is an MCQ based exam
supposed to check the clinical knowledge of the students. The exam will take
place over three days on six main clinical subjects and other pre and para
clinical subjects “allied” to them. Without clearing these exams, a student will
not only be considered ineligible for PG but also, he/she will not be allowed
to pursue internship. Post internship the phase 2 of this exam will be held in
which the clinical skills of the students will be tested.
With these new guidelines many questions are hovering
in our minds depriving us of sleep, “What happens when a student wants to
attempt NEXT more than once for a better rank?” “How will one complete the huge
final year syllabus within November?” “Is it really possible to check the
clinical knowledge of students by making them solve MCQs?” “With no importance
of practical classes or lectures, can we really end up making good doctors?” “Is
it possible for students to attend clinical postings everyday and at the same
time prepare for this MCQ exam? And if not, which should get a higher priority?”
As the fear for our seemingly bleak future
looms in our minds, we hear comments for non-medico friends and relatives,
which make us laugh and cry at the same time. “MBBS was always difficult. You
knew what you were getting yourselves into. A few years from now you people
will charge in lakhs from poor patients. Please don’t forget to give me free
treatment then.”
Aunties and friends, we promise we did not know
what we were getting ourselves into. No one does, until they reach the point of
no return. For us, it was like going for a surgery without any MRI or CT scans
done, and suddenly spotting a crucial anatomical anomaly which, if not taken
care of, has the potential to change the prognosis for the patient entirely causing
unexpected death on the table. We need to make some big decisions but do not
know what to do and unlike the surgeons for whom decision making skills develop
with experience, we don’t even have enough time to gain any clinical exposure
or experience.
It is a popular yet infamous opinion that
medical field follows the principle of “Survival of the fittest”. This makes
many of us wonder, “Am I fit enough? Can I do justice to the profession I chose
and to all my future patients?” This is a question only Time can answer. Till
then, spend all your energy on surviving this battle, maybe you will automatically end up
being the fittest.
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