" What is your case?"

 

The answer to the question in the title is something we all know: “I am a case of hyper-syllabus hypo-preparation syndrome, Sir.” Sadly enough, this answer doesn’t fetch any marks. Final MB is probably the last hundred meters of the marathon race of MBBS and it is not for the weak-hearted. This becomes clearer as one stands with a smile in front of a sadistic Professor with a Golden Littman proudly hung around his neck, constantly reminding oneself, “DO NOT CRY HERE!”

The centre of attention for students in Final MB practical exams is the revered and feared demon called “Long case.” This is essentially a patient, whose entire history the student has to collect painstakingly and come to a diagnosis about his condition. This is more easily said than done. Some tired and irritated patients give you the wrong history, changing it entirely in front of the teacher, while some kid keeps howling at the top of his voice no matter how many chocolates you give him or how much you sing for him. Some students are unlucky enough to land up with patients who have so many diseases and complications that they are no less than a textbook themselves. The question one faces in the exam hall is, how much to write? If one writes complicated symptoms, it invites unwanted questions, and on the other hand if one misses points in the history, one earns praises like, “You can’t even write a history properly? You are definitely not eligible to pass.”

Photo courtesy: Ritadeepa Jana

Someone once rightly commented, “It is easier to become a long case than to prepare for one.” This author feels that an important part of preparation for any viva, be it long case, short case or tables, should be to practice lip reading, so that if a kind PGT tries to prompt an answer you are not stupid enough to miss it. While some professors come only to traumatize students there are some others, who do not really consider the exam to be an exam. To them, it is just another class in the ward during which they kindly teach students operative procedures like “Evisceration of sac.” When this category of professors asks at the end of the viva: “How do you think your viva went?” one finds herself at a loss to answer. The mind wonders, “Did I even answer any question? Wasn’t it mostly him teaching me?”

If the patient is a baby, there are other issues like, the patient might decide to poop during examination, or both mother and child might decide to follow the Gandhian philosophy of Non-cooperation movement or the child might decide to cry in front of the examiner. As a professor of Pediatrics once rightly commented, “If the child cries during examination, you have to cry too.” But what does one do if the child doesn’t stop crying inspite of the student’s best efforts? Well, the answer to this question is: PRAY.

There is yet another entity called as a short case in Final MB practical. The term “short” case is a misnomer. This is essentially the same as long case minus the writing part. The duration of the viva depends on the nature of the examiner and the performance of the student. Often this is such a case which one NEVER saw throughout the entire duration of final year. Cases like Tetralogy of fallot, hypospadias, papilloma and osteoarthritis make appearances in this so called “short case”. In most cases the only way to prepare for such cases is through hall collection, during which one goes on asking anyone and everyone, “Hey tell me something you know about this topic. Anything will do.”

Photo courtesy: Shuvojyoti Rakshit

The answer to the question in the title can be very tough as, the answer you say may not fall into the examiner’s idea of correct answer. Not many examiners are kind enough to understand the condition of students, so the viva tends to be grueling, physically and emotionally. One way forward is to accept the situation with a smile and wait for that one easy question the examiner decides to ask, answering which can be the game changer. But mostly, one is so drained by the end that even easy answers evade us. This is why during such situations, we must constantly remind ourselves: “It is not over until it is.”