The recent protests all over the nation for justice and a safer working environment for healthcare professionals demand action and strict protocols for hospitals and their employees. Amidst this, it is essential to highlight the hurdles medicos face during undergraduate medical education as well. PG residents have been facing violence and harassment in different forms but the period of the MBBS course has its difficulties too.
Once the playful joys of school end after standard 10, students go through a phase of branch selection among science, commerce and arts. Candidates who want to choose medicine as their career primarily go for science with biology included. In India, there is a national level medical entrance exam called NEET-UG for undergraduates who want to study Bachelor of Surgery, Bachelor of Medicine (MBBS). This is a highly competitive entrance exam followed by a counseling process with several reservations for different categories of society.
This is followed by 4.5 years of medical education containing non-clinical subjects for the first, second years and clinical subjects for the third and the final year of MBBS. Through these 4.5 years, medicos study 19 different subjects with theoretical and practical application of their knowledge. The curriculum promotes students to the next year only after they qualify for the university exams for their current year of education. This is followed by one year of medical internship under the guidance of senior residents and heads of departments. Successful completion of this internship makes the journey of the medico finally reach the graduation day where they are officially entitled the prefix of Doctor to their name. This degree is equivalent to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) in the United States of America (USA).
MedBound Times reached out to a few medicos to ask them about the challenges they faced during their undergraduate med school journey in India.
My experience with UG medical education has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. There are some important things I have learnt from it. 1) Finding your tribe in mbbs is over rated. It is wonderful if you find a group of friends who can last a lifetime but don’t beat yourself if you can’t or think any less of yourself. Networking doesn’t need to be restricted to your college. It’s okay to preserve your self peace. Your friends should encourage you and support you. This is extremely important in this tedious course. 2) Prioritize yourself. You are the only one who will stay with yourself when things go south. Take time out for your physical and mental health because this is what will help you survive 5.5 years of the rigorous mbbs course. 3) Make the most of these 5.5 years. There is a life beyond MBBS and college. Go for symposia, don’t just focus on academics. Try to explore multiple career paths specially if you got into this out of compulsion. You should only get into post graduation after making a well informed decision.
Dr. Shivani Nirgudkar, MBBS Intern, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences
As interns working in the hospital, doctor's duty rooms were simply out of question. The bare minimum ones were for residents. But what was always a bigger issue for women was the lack of clean useable washrooms in the hospital. We had to walk back to our hostel every single time we needed to use the washroom, which made most of us drink less water so the visits would need to be less frequent. The singular clean washroom in the college part of the building was very poorly lit after evening, and we had to go through dark unlit corridors to get there. So for the most part it was inaccessible after evening. As far as I have seen, these conditions are pretty much the same all across the country, whether it's in govt colleges or private ones.
Dr. Prajakta Hushe, MBBS, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences
As highlighted by Dr. Prajakta and also the recent rage about the Kolkata rape and murder case clearly shows how duty rooms for interns and doctors are simply lacking in the medical system of India. The basic facilities for night duties are inadequate and safety becomes a concern in such scenarios.
Internship is a crucial time for an undergraduate student to apply what they've learned over the past five years by rotating through different specialties and subspecialties to gain maximum clinical and application knowledge. However, this isn't always the case for all medical students due to the following reasons: 1. The education system often requires students to prepare for upcoming competitive exams like NEET PG or USMLE, which puts pressure on them to excel academically, sometimes at the cost of developing clinical skills and practical abilities. 2. There's often more focus on paperwork than on clinical work in hospitals. Tasks like transporting blood samples or collecting urine and stool samples are prioritized over more hands-on procedures like starting IV lines or performing lumbar punctures. This can lead to a decline in the clinical skills of the individual. Rahul
Dr. Rahul Chidurala, MBBS, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
The number one lesson that I learned as a medical intern, or even as a medical student is that the world of doctors is supposed to be unfair. Unfair events can be to teach less and expect more, guide less and work more, those who work hard will be asked to work more and more, those who have power and name can escape the inhumane work that others face, you need to do 36 hour duty with not even 10 mins of sleep and expected to tell the potassium levels of the 20th patient in rounds, and the worst part is you work hard for a month and when the your rotation ends the attending professor will ask, “What’s your name?” This is just a few. Don’t even ask me about where I sleep, if I eat or what will I do if I need to use the restroom.
Dr. Shanitha Hussain, MD Medicine, College Kanyakumari Government Medical College, Nagercoil
Let this be anonymous: Student's approach towards medical colleges has shifted from gaining knowledge to getting attendance and clearing exams to get the degree. Students feel the need to join extra workshops and classes to make themselves competent. College is just a obligation for degree. Faculties cover syllabus for the sake of completion. College itself should teach all the skills required to become a good doctor. Academics should include practical knowledge required to start a medical practical. Every college should conduct workshops for students to practice. After stepping out of college every student must become confident with the knowledge gained. Surroundings of medical colleges are often very depressing. There should be good infrastructure providing good recreations activities. Medical students study about well balanced diet and yet are provided with minimal quality oily food. Fruits and salad must be included in menu. Many students live far from home , it's hard to deal with hostel politics and pressure of studies that there is need of counselors to take care of mental health of the students Poor academics, poor surroundings bad food has made the student lose interest in the word "college" . Every person of medical college should feel happy to be part of this amazing medical journey
MBBS Intern, Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik
This article has diverse opinions from medicos from varied colleges. This reflects on the numerous hurdles a medical student has to face as they complete their education. As we can see that each sharing has different grievances of concern, we can safely presume that there are many more challenges that get overlooked. Hopefully, more students will come forth to share their opinions and experiences. Raising your voice is the first step towards a resolution and the creation of a better tomorrow for future doctors.
