Challenges of a Medical Student

1. "CHALLENGES OF A MEDICAL STUDENT’’
JITHIN.S.PANICKER
2nd MBBS
Travancore Medical College, Kollam Kerala
Why did you choose this profession....?When our mam put
forward this question, many answers came up- social service,
inspiration from ‘’doctor parents’’, parental pressure, social status
of a doctor........
That day mam told us ‘’this profession is the noblest of all
and gives you a secure and guaranteed life, along with you
can do something for the society’’.But its not that too easy to
become a doctor.
As a second year MBBS student, to be candid I feel its
hard............
What I’m feeling at present can be explained by one of the
famous saying among medicos-

2. ‘’ Medical course is like a public toilet, people standing out are
eager to get in and people in are dying to finish and come
out’’
As a small kid i always wanted to be a doctor. For most pre
medical students, a spot in medical college is a dream come
true. For me it was definitely a ‘’dream come true’’. But getting
an admission at medical college was not that easy for me.
The admission to the medical course in Kerala is based solely
on their rank in the entrance exam conducted by CEE. There
are just 2000 medical seats in Kerala and around 1 lakh
students are competing for these seats.
Parents have high academic and career expectations for their
children which some children cannot live upto, they force their
children to become doctors and pressurise them to some how
secure high ranks in the entrance examinations. Coaching for
entrance examinations has become an integral part of process.
Its like a routine process doing 1 year coaching to face
entrance examination. It is one of the major entry barrier of
medical admission for students of low socioeconomic background
. Coaching centres charging a great amount as fees is also
acting as a great barrier hindering the dreams of an
economically poor child.
Cost to be incurred by the students limits access to medical
education. The educational expenses include those incurred by
the government and expenses incurred by the students.

3. MBBS couurse is 5 years long...........................which is longer
than any other university courses and it requires immense
energy, commitment and hardwork from student. The work is
within the capacity of all who clear the entrance exams. But it
requires extra reading and revisions so that we can keep up
with the course. The life of medical student is challenging as
they must also learn to deal with interpersonal communication,
illness and ethical issues.
With lots of dreams in an anxious eye, I joined the college to
study MBBS with burden of expectations.
There is whole lot of first times in the life of a medical
student- the 1st time anatomy lab, visits, practical interactions
etc. Syringes, stethescope, sphygmomanometer etc are the
playkits and toys for them.
Among all these 1st time, the one who caught the most of
attraction is the master itself ‘’THE DISSECTION HALL’’
First thing I noticed was the smell ..........the smell of formalin.
And then you see them...........Lying there naked, that shrivelled
up skin, that bony frame and moreover the intoxicating smell of
formalin adding to their mysterical aura- the ‘’CADAVERS’’
For the first time in my life I put a knife into real human
flesh. We did enjoy those horrible hours even while standing in
the middle of all these challenges, because of the inspiration
from my beloved ones and my passion to be a doctor.

4. The most difficult task for me was keeping all these in
memory. We do forget our own names while memorizing the
names of muscles, their origin and insertions.
At this point of time I realised that the Kerala entrance
examination was not the real hardship which I believed to be
the Herculian task at the time I was preparing for my entrance
exams.
I still remember the last days of my dissection hall and
revision classes- I was running in the dissection hall with brain
in one hand and a leg in the other.
By the time you go for exams your brain is clogged.
Ultimately all you remember are 2-3 points. For all of you
who are of the opinion that doctors lack creativity, please refer
to our university papers. After all these hardworks and circuses,
I cleared my 1st MBBS in flying colours.
IInd year.............The wards.....
IInd year we go to clinics. We are posted in different
departments. We go to the wards with a sthethescope and a
white coat and walk with a lofty proud gait and act in a self
assured manner untill we recognise that we are the lowest and
despicable creature in that ward.
After few months we realize that, we have lost it....what about
the spirit and hope.......all that is important is the –‘’shame”’.
The professors abash us first. The nurses criticise us..........

5. Slowly we became acclimatized to the world of hospital, smell,
illness and books.
I do realise that life of a medico is hard, but its even harder
after passing MBBS which I realised now only after seeing and
interacting with the junior doctors of our hospital. Every year
about 30,000 students clear their MBBS in India and find their
way to rat race. A race which is going to change their life
forever. The only thing one learns from this tussle is to
“’SURVIVE”’. Eventually only the fittest and finest will survive.
The life as a junior doctor is all about doing clerical work for
his senior doctor OR spending sleepless nights in the casuality.
Is this what we dreamt of.........??
The main reason behind this problem is that there is limited
number of PG seats available considering to total MBBS
students. Another important factor is that the patients are very
much concerned of his /her health and they prefer a specialist
doctor rather than a junior doctor.
All these make the life of a junior doctor quite different from
what he dreamt of.
So we can conclude that challenges start right from the
moment when one decides to be a medical professional and it
never ends, simply because he has to be update with the
daily development in medical field to be a good practioner.
Actually all these challenges make us a
DOCTOR..................................

6. The Article is published for empowering Medical Students in India,
from Travancore Medical College, Kollam, Kerala. Please post your
comments and suggestion to
Email: jithinsp.s@gmail.com / doctortvrao@gmail.com