Exams Over. MBBS Over.

MBBS is tough. Very long. Exhaustive.
And exams sure do take a toll on a student's health and psyche.
Hurray!  I survived and am alive.

You see, firstly, there are written exams -  theory papers that are more a part of a fixed curriculum than an aspect of testing knowledge. There is a format. Short and long answer type Q & A.
Of course one sure does get a preparatory leave for the same. But I'll be damned if I disagree that any amount of time is insufficient.

Too many subjects. Quite a bit of cramming. A tad bit of logic and innovation.

They drench your soul. A battle between heart, body and mind.
Most of us tide over the waves. But some have to face the sweet chin music. I have the best of kids cracking up, almost willing to give up the endeavour, even with the coast in sight.

Health issues galore. Food and sleep habits crash. No time for social chit chats. No time for family. Festivals and events all secondary.

The very moment where one gets the question paper in hand is inexplicable. Some smile. Others swallow.

And secondly, we have the world famous 'Practicals'.
The word is scary in itself. One is judged and assessed by a board of external examiners, who form a panel alongside the dear good old internal examiners.

A gamble of all sorts. No one can be perfect. Errors are common fold. And the intense atmosphere in the wards. It can shatter confidence and destroy logic, while transcending time and more time.

I feel there is often a decent 'setting' between the externals and college, i. e. an informal deal wherein maybe.. I say maybe.. goods, benefits, pleasantries, beverages, gifts, cash and kind etc etc. might be traded in exchange for a promise, a vow to PASS all the candidates, whatever might be the circumstances.

All is settled, they say. Just be calm and answer somewhat correctly. And you'll see the magic unfold.

In the end, perhaps all I can say is that this kinda exam feeling can't be experienced by any Tom, Dick & Harry. You have to be within the system.
It's a cocktail of emotions, that has to be savoured by the bold and the valiant. A chalice of aged wine for the ego.

Years pass.
Seasons pass.
Moments pass.
So will we.

The Doctor Says..

Sorry guys. Was away due to university exams.
Couldn't blog. YOU KNOW HOW IT IS !

But here's my retournée with a picblog :)

Keep following for updates.
Ciao

The Doctor Says..

Antidote #3

At med school,

Accept defeat. It's usually a victory for the endeavour.
Accept criticism. It's generally an appreciation for the thought.
Accept sarcasm. It's basically politeness for the contempt.
Accept anger. It's simply a celebration for the ego.
Accept greed. It's purely a satisfaction for the oblivion.

What medicos love

Everybody has a hobby.
Pretty natural..we all love to do that one thing that we are proud of.
At med school, hobbies are like a hidden treasure -  difficult to find, difficult to inculcate, almost impossible to accept and project in front of them nerds.
It's almost as if one has to forcefully own up to an alleged crime, committed in corpos mentis!

<< Log kya kahenge? 
Haww!! You sing??
Arey bro! You won't laugh at my paintings na? >>

The list of anticipatory questions is endless.

Thankfully, I have come across some really awesome chaps who have proudly exhibited their hobbies across domestic and social domains. They have received accolades and appreciation alike.
[ Special mention and shoutouts to :-
Altaf Raje, Nachiket Pargaonkar, Faizal Pokar, Ravikant Bhogshetti ]

What's there to feel shy about? After all, the art defines you.
It adds a flavour to your personality and glamour to your skill.

I myself write poetry in various languages, something that has become a passion now.

After having explored the 'passion vaults' in my college, I hereby enlist the hobbies, in no proper order, that students love to pursue, apart from sleeping, bunking lectures and using pdf during examinations :--

1.Photography
Age old, tried and tested. Doctors love snapping around, both literally and symbolically!  I'm not talking about selfies. The game is all about extravagant and scenic panoramic shots, with prior dslr adjustments. The thrill that one derives after a perfect shot is inexplicable.

2.Painting/Drawing/Sketching
Pencil, charcoal, water paints and the like. Conceptual yet
powerful. Art that is self explanatory. A well executed sketch or a waterpaint not only does catch the eye, but also invokes the mind.

3.Dance and Music
Traditional and Modern. A perfect blend of emotions. We do have smart and talented performers around. They swing and they sing. Instrumentalists form the inhouse band. Girls definitely rule the thump, but a few chaps are equally skilled. The costumization, song selection, timing etc are crucial aspects of the act. Beautiful vocal cords with beautiful faces.. ah!

4.Travelling and Biking
Needless to say, docs love riding. An instantaneous, impromptu plan works very well. All you need is bling bling cash, fuel, transportation, and a navigator/google maps.
An unplanned rainshower is most welcome. Hiking, trekking, camping or just 'lafantargiri', bring it on.

5.Poetry and Writing
This is one of those hobbies which people try to hide. Maybe it's not in everybody's league to comprehend stuff, but I personally feel docs love to write. Any topic can spark an idea. And when it comes to poetry, I can bet you, we can be an instant hit at a party, or generally when hitting on the opposite sex.

6.Sports
We are Indians. Period.
All of us love to play sport. May it be cricket, volleyball, shuttle, football or carrom -- no one can have just one.
A live telecast can fill the evening's void in an instant.

7.Reading
I know quite a lot of people who simply love to read, basically read anything. From Sheldon to Coelho, autobio to science fiction, yahan sab bikta hai. A free ebook is as pleasurable as a newly purchased hardbound from Crossword or a duplicate haggled from the railway station.

8.Gastronomy (Eating)
I don't know whether this qualifies as a hobby, but I'm pretty sure food is the ultimate sin one can indulge in. Chaps here undertake hour long journeys just to grab a bite at their fav eatery. Fruit cream in Pune to seekh at Dehu, dhaba food to cheap buffets.. there are no limits to cravings here.

9.Gossips and Bakchodi
*coughs incessantly*
Yahan baatein aag ki tarah failti hain.

10.Ramp Walking
Funny yet true. Folks here love to do that. Obvious from the interesting fashion shows organized each year.
Swag or ThugLife? Maybe both.

11.Movies and Serials
Oh yes! Buffs everywhere. From HouseMD to GOT, docs love watching and following all sorts of serials. No, not Indian telly soaps. C'mon.
Avid sitcom fans and movie collectors. Takes a couple of hours to finish a movie. Takes a few hours to finish a season.
I know a guy who now proudly owns almost 5 TB worth of amazing stuff.. #respect

12.Minor and trivial activities like online shopping, styling, PC and PS gaming etc. add to the list.

At the end of it all, I can conclude the blog by suggesting that docs are humans. They have desires and interests. The best thing is to pursue these hobbies proudly and enthusiastically.
It's like a stress reliever if I can put it this way.

Never flinch fellas. Do what you gotta do.. Have fun :)

Antidote #2

Half knowledge kills.

At medical school, you have the accept the fact that it's not about what you have studied or what you know that decides your fate in an examination.. instead it's all about what you haven't, or don't know, that judges the result.

Keeping mum in front of the examiner is a gamble.
Some earn the jackpot.
Others crumble after the loss.

After all, silence is golden, ain't it?

Pocketful of Parodies #3

The Curious Case of PR

Antidote #1

They say caffeine is an antidote to somnolence.

But I feel it's not the caffeine that keeps me going.

It's the belief, that the caffeine will keep me going, that keeps me going.

Stop deceiving yourself.
Start believing yourself.

Pocketful of Parodies #2

"An apple a day, keeps the doctor away." 

Agreed.

But if the doctor is cute, forget the fruit.

Indeed.

Pocketful Of Parodies #1

ECG ne arz kiya hai..

Gaur farmaeeyega,

Musalsal jhoomti hoon main,
Mera kaam hai jhoomna.
Defibrillator nazdeek rakhna,
Patient ka maatha mat choomna.
Atropine bhi bharosemand hai,
Par nurse ki fitrat mein hai ghoomna.
Ucchlungi main, kabhi kabhi gir jaungi,
Seedha leti rahoongi tabhi teri samajh mein aaungi.
Jhoothi nahi hoon, sirf thoda sharmaati hoon,
Khabar achi ho ya buri, main hi sunaungi.
Musalsal jhoomti hoon...
Parchai main zindagi ki hoon.

_/\_

System Of A Down - How to succeed in General Medicine?

This is a retrograde/retrogressive multi-step approach to become a master in the subject of General Medicine in Maharashtra.

1. (a) Buy the latest edition of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.
    (b) Forget about it.
    (c) Realise that a free .chm or .pdf is available. Download it for quick referrals.
    (d) Forget about it.

--->

2. (a) Buy the latest edition of Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine. Write name and year on it.
    (b) Forget about it.
    (c) Realise that a free .chm or .pdf is available. Download it for quick referrals.
    (d) Forget about it.

--->

3. (a) Buy some (sanctioned) Indian authors' books, like API, Golwala, Chugh etc. Write name and year on it.
    (b) Go through the text font, images (if any), total no.of pages, index, preface etc.
    (c) Casually start reading a system. Underline important stuff.
    (d) Resist the temptation of checking for free pdfs and all.
    (e) Ask for specific markings and keep all aside.

--->

4. (a) Hear about a treasure called 'George Mathew's Prep Manual for Undergraduates'.
    (b) Obtain an extensively utilized copy from a senior, preferably immediate senior.
    (c) Read it nicely. Thank God for this gem of a book. Promote it in the batch. Criticize other authors.
    (d) Ask for even more selective markings.
    (e) Obtain Bhalani if possible.

--->

5. (a) Obtain xerox from local photocopywala. Ask for readymade notes.
    (b) Revisit Mathew's. Thank God for this gem of a book. Promote it in the batch. Criticize other authors.
    (c) Bhalani must be obtained for getting a holistic view.
    (d) Start panicking. Do only highly important, massively starred and repeatedly asked questions.
   
--->

6. (a) Pass final year with decent to excellent scores.
    (b) Thank God for such amazing books.
    (c) Propagate that Harrison, Davidson, Golwala and the likes have no idea about Medicine, and presentation of crisp information.
    (d) Look for juniors who might be interested in buying your old yet new medicine books, all in perfectly unused condition. Quote good prices. Earn some bucks and party. Promote Mathew's.

La Fin.

Time Warp-- Waqt: The race against Time

If I were asked what super power I would want most, I would answer emphatically “the ability to manipulate time.” There’s something completely ridiculous and insane about cramming in 30-40 hours per chapter since first year.With the amount of information that is expected of us to absorb, digest, and recall, our mental digestive system often has reflux, and especially during post exams, intractable mental vomiting.

There are some medical students that wake up really early to get a head start on the day’s lectures or to start the cramming process asap. I call them 'gunners'. Depending on the day, a medical student can have anywhere from 3-6 hours of lecture a day. Then you got some who do 'revision' after all those brain-numbing lectures. Then there are some crazies who take extra classes for pg prep during medical school. Aahh, I'm in that list! There’s also much needed time for extracurricular activities. And you got some insignificant tasks to be done that need to be  significantly remembered from time to time, and omg-- friends (remember them?). Oh yeah and there’s the regular studying which appears to require an endless amount of time. Endless is a long time and makes you realize why there are ONLY 24 hours in a day and question why humans need to sleep anyway? Sleep. What a waste of time...

If I had the power to manipulate time, medical school would probably be easier. But then again, medical school would probably be longer and the thought of that makes me vomit intractably.

---Currently on domperidone BD

Naps And Claps!

There’s nothing like chronic sleeplessness that really makes a medical student appreciate the concept of naps, especially power naps. When that coffee, tea, or energy drink isn’t working, and there’s no other way to fight the powerful force that is sleepiness, why even fight the inevitable? Resistance is futile! Take a nap!

If you walk through a medical school, don’t be surprised by the occasional student completely knocked out at the cafeteria, the library, the ‘study room’, or in class. For some unexplained reason, lecture is the best place to take a nap. It may be the warmth from neighboring bodies, the drone of the professor’s voice, or the dimness of the room, but within ten minutes of lecture, heads drop and there’s no stopping it. And if you do start napping, make sure you have a nap-wingman to poke you awake when you start to snore or drool or mutter in your sleep.

Be warned that when you sleep in school you may fall victim to “sleep shooters”, peers who will take unappealing photos of you and post them on social websites such as Twitter or Facebook for their own entertainment.

Oh naps, I wish I could have more of you! Even if you give me funny book imprints on my face :)

The Great Gamble

Ok, so the journey of a typical medical student in India starts at the tender age of 17/18. If u want to be a pre-med you have got to decide so in your final year of high school i.e. HSC or Higher secondary certificate year also known as 10 + 2 STD in many states. A few states offer a choice of completely dropping mathematics in your HSC so you can concentrate on the three main subjects for being a Pre med i.e. Biology, Physics and Chemistry. Whether or not you get into medical school at 17 depends upon your score in the various PMTs (Pre-Medical Tests) conducted by all states and one by the central government. Here too there are exceptions in the form of states that prefer to conduct the admission process based upon your scores in the HSC exams without an entrance exam. It's difficult to say which is the better procedure, but the lack of uniformity most certainly produces discrepancies in the whole system. Add to it confounding variables like caste reservations, minority reservations and a lot many other reservations. There is much to be said about that facet of the admission process, especially the caste reservation, but that would be fodder for another post.
Once you enter into the medical field, you are one of the privileged, coz being a medical student is an honor in its own way, as I am sure it is in other countries. Medical school or medical college as it is called in India consists of four and a half years followed by one year of Internship. The four and half calendar years are divided into three academic years of one, one and half and two years each, coving pre-clinical, para-clinical and clinical subjects respectively. This pattern too is subject to much variation in the different states.

The first year of pre-clinical subjects is spent entirely in classrooms, laboratories and dissection halls, obviously in study of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry. From the Second 'prof' or professional year starts the real fun. Mornings are spent in clinical rotations learning hands on clinical medicine. It might seem odd that students are exposed to real patients even before they cover in theory all the clinical stuff, but that's how it is. Second prof covers Pathology, Pharmacology, Microbiology and Forensic medicine. Final year is similar to the second, except that now there is sync between the classroom study and study at the 'Clinics'. All three 'profs' culminate in exams of their respective subjects. Moreover, if a student fails in any one of them, he is set back by six months and so on until he or she manages to pass the examinations.

Then it is on to internship, 12 months of total unadulterated clinical experience. The fledgling doctors are shunted from discipline to discipline and trained in the basic technicalities of practicing medicine. At the end of each rotation, there is a performance evaluation and if needed one might have to repeat the rotation or if lucky enough, get away with an extension. Even though internship is one of the most crucial elements of any doctor's education how much a person gains from it depends upon the individual. What I mean is that there are always a handful of students who manage to play hooky during their internship days and devote their time in the pursuit of activities, which will ensure their further ascent in the hierarchy of the medical world. They prepare for the Post graduation entrance examinations. We will get there in a bit….

After the completion of the compulsory internship and registration with the Indian Medical council or the State medical council where they plan to practice, students officially become doctors or RMPs - Registered Medical Practitioners. The degree bequeathed on them is MBBS, which stands for Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. All this by the approximate age of 23 or 24.  We can practice basic medicine, have a family practice; work in hospitals and clinics or as Medical officers for the government in rural areas. However, for most of us that is not enough.
A couple of decades ago, when the onus was more on family practitioners and not on specialized medicine, MBBS was a highly honored degree. Now trends have changed drastically, so much so, that the MBBS degree is only considered as a checkpoint in the spectrum of medical education. If you want to be a successful doctor, you have to specialize. The catch however is that the transition to being a specialist is by far the most challenging task. Another series of Entrance exams need to be cleared and depending upon your performance you to get be a candidate for either an MD or an MS. MD covers all the non surgical specialties like Internal medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Anesthesiology etc and MS covers all surgical branches like General surgery, Orthopedics , Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology.  OBGY however has the dubious honor of being an MD specialty rather than MS even though it is practically all surgery.  

Believe me when I say, the entrance exams are tough. Even though the pattern is multiple choice and the subjects comprise all subjects of undergrad, it is very difficult to crack it. The problem is lack of facilities for specialty training. There are far few seats and far too many candidates. And as the backlog keeps mounting so does the competition, and the exams only get tougher. So far, there is no solution in sight for this problem.
But for those who do make it, it's an unparalleled victory. Not matter how grueling you residency might be, only after setting foot into the sacred territory of post graduation does one feel that he/she has arrived in the 'Promised land of Medicine.' Three years of post graduation training and after that the sky is the limit.
 
This in a nutshell is the journey of an Indian Medical student from the age of 17/18 to being a fully qualified 'specialist' doctor. Could take from anywhere between 9 - 12 years.

Phew.

Because,Life!

Posting or Imposting???

I never thought I’d be writing something on this subject. Believe me, I’m the last person that should be writing something like this. I’m talking about clinical postings in hospitals which happen every morning for 3-4 hours since coming to second year. Two and a half years have passed since these things started and I wonder what have I done all that time. Now that I’m in final year, when we really need to utilise this time as there will be a practical exam in this, I realise that I’ve been wasting almost every morning of college by not doing anything all this time. What could have been the problem you ask?

Well firstly, the impulse every morning was not to go to the hospital as “nothing much happens” and “there is no use going”. Attendance was also not that important. Now I realise that these were just excuses and I wouldn’t have made them if I didn’t want to do something else. The same time could be spent watching some cool show or movie or do some or the other more interesting thing. Anyhow, I didn’t let this affect me much. I convinced myself every time that there is a proper time for everything and that even is you learn one thing today in the hospital then you’ve done a good job. So overall, my attendance was low but not very low, better than the average. I just used to go a little late every time, without missing anything important.

The second thing- after reaching the hospital, not being proactive in the wards. Each student could see any number of cases he wanted. Even with all this, I couldn’t make much use of it. I’ve never found History-taking a very interesting nor a very useful thing. I always thought of it as unnecessary troubling of the patient. Any good student or teacher would be agitated if he reads this. Yeah it’s true that it’s important, but only when it’s done in the right way. And the only right way to do it was to know why you’re doing it and what is the relevance of every question that you trouble the patient with. Coming to Clinical Examination, that needs even more knowledge of the subject. There were two problems in this- either we didn’t know properly what are we supposed to do and why or there were so many students examining a single patient that it was hard to do it properly or just plain not worth the trouble. Now I wonder why did we all crowd around a single  patient? Probably because we were afraid to take a case alone as we don’t know much. Probably our combined knowledge will help us get through. Furthermore, even though patients are plenty, those with classical presentation or those with conditions which are academically relevant to us are not so common.

Was there no one to teach you? – you ask. Well that’s the third problem. I do feel that we students are the one being wronged here. It’s that no one in the departments cares about you. Hardly anyone is interested in teaching you. There was no proper schedule of teaching nor fixed teachers to teach a subject. I don’t know whether this is the condition of only our college or in others too. Anyhow, we managed somehow most of the times. You can try and find someone who’ll teach you.

So now that I’ve told about all the problems I had, it’s time to decide what to do, if you want to avoid the earlier mistakes and make the most of what remaining time you have. Here are a few things I learnt from my experience :-

1.Get up, dress up and show up every day, regardless of what is happening or what will happen. It’s important to be right in principle. They say its better to regret something you did rather than regret something you didn’t do.

2.As clichéd or impractical it sounds, read and be prepared for whatever case you’re going to take BEFORE you take it. The ideal situation would be to become perfect in a particular case and then see the patient. Of course, we are not perfect. All we can do is try to strike the right balance between the patient and the book. A little bit of both here and there. It’ll enable you to properly take the case and also reinforce what you have read by seeing it live in a patient.

3.You need to “practice” everything. That is – do it repeatedly. As much as you get the chance to do. For example, eliciting a reflex looks so simple when you see people doing it, but you’ll realise what it is when you try. (Btw I only recently came to know that you’re supposed to look at the muscle twitch in a tendon reflex, not the movement of the limb).

4.Find someone to answer your questions, probably show you some procedures, and present the case to the person. Bear the torture of a hundred mistakes getting pointed out in your presentation. Just bear it. Due to some reason, they think that while pointing out mistakes, they are teaching you. But the difference lies in the way it’s done. Most of the times it appears like they’re discouraging the student without them knowing it. Anyhow, forgive the teachers if they’re being rude. They probably don’t understand a student’s psychology and are probably just doing their teaching job unwillingly as a compulsion.If you were an ideal student and had read before taking the case then it will help you a lot at this stage.

5.Take notes of whatever is being told. Try to write everything that you can, as neatly and systematically as possible in a notebook that you’ll not throw away somewhere but will see again. This stuff is not usually given as such in the textbooks but it is very useful in viva, theory as well as answering other professors’ questions. Think of it as a secret book that all the professors have, from which book alone they accept answers, but students have no way of accessing it except in a few instances where the professors use it for teaching.

6.Don’t tell yourself that I’ll go home and read all about it. It is irrelevant whether you’ll read it later or not. Your job is to utilise this time as much as possible. It’s best to assume that you won’t be able to, so finish whatever you can here and now.

7.Discuss stuff with your fellow students. You’re lucky if you have someone with you who knows more than you. This is a much simpler and much more effective way of learning things than doing that from a book. It’s like the difference between eating and digesting something (reading) or just taking IV glucose (learning from others). They have processed everything for you.

This post became quite long. I didn’t plan to write this, it was just an impulse. As someone said- “I write to know what I think.” (Joan Didion). Hope this makes things clear for me as well as help you the reader. Writing makes an exact man they say (Francis Bacon). I sure hope to be so.

He who passes, succeeds.

'PASS' : a term used in medical school to represent clarity of notion, that the student has successfully accomplished the 'mission' by crossing each and every hurdle that lay in his path, to proceed with his task of fulfilling his ambition, and that now, he is one step closer to attach the prestigious, noble and honorable prefix 'Dr' in front of his name.

"Beta, paper kaise gaye?"
"Ek short answer question (SAQ) chhod diya?"
"Kitne aaye?"
"Acha, iss baar topper na?"
"Distinction kitno mein layega?"
"Bas 58%? Sirf 63%? Just pass hi toh hai."
"Koi baat nahi.Agli baar zyada padh kar jaana."

Seriously? No, seriously??!!

Phew..And the list of questions directed towards a 'to be' doctor, moreover in a so-called educated, advancing, urban and developing India, is simply endless.
There are the typical uncles and aunties.And of course, the non-medical buddies.Sometimes, the cousins too hop in.
Do they act sarcastic? Do they mean it? Pullin' my leg?
Thankfully the parents and the sibling(s) are not in the picture!

Four uneventful years of medical school have passed.And by 'uneventful', I mean to say that all has gone well. Pretty good scores, decent academic orientation, average clinical skills and the best thing-- continuing to be a part of my original year '11 batch. Basically, to sum it all up, I have sincerely passed all the university examinations.Period.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? Why not?
Only 72 theory papers and 51 practical exams in 4.5 years.
*gulps*

Passing in medical school has always been difficult.The stakes are always high.There are various attributing factors that can decide one's luck in this game -- The Game Of Thorns --->

1.The mindset of the paper setter -- What does he want from me?

2.The mood of the examiner/paper-checker -- Pray that his dog didn't conk off last night !

3.The difficulty level of the questions -- Alpha beta gamma, MRI aur CT ka kyu haath hai thaama?

4.The quality of the answer (hehehe)

5.The gut feeling of the examinee --  *Iss baar pakka fail*

6. Internal marks -- Why do girls have all the fun?

7.The preparation a.k.a 'knowledge' (To say, it should be projected as the most important factor.Alas, it isn't. Ask any medical student.)

All these intrinsic specifications seem ridiculous.But the fact of the matter is that all this sure does play a significant role in judging students' fate.

Does your blood sugar report ever say,"Wow! You have passed the diabetes test with first class."
In another anecdote, have the newspaper headlines ever read out as,"A bomb exploded with distinction near the train station."

Of course, you will argue with the fact that a huge load of data is quantitatively assessed.
Mild anemia.Moderate bleeding.Severe diarrhoea.Extreme pain.
30% risk of stroke. 1 in 1000 incidence....etc etc.

But every quantitative data has a cutoff limit, an upper limit, after which the result cannot be further categorized and taken wholly into account.
For example, a blood cholesterol value of 200mg% is the cut off for establishing whether or not a patient has high cholesterol.Any value above that is self suggestive.

Likewise, I'd say that medical exams follow this trend, wherein the upper limit of failure is 50% aggregate result.
After this, anything above 50% qualifies as 'pass'.
It's not the minimum marks stereotype, rather it's the commencement of an accomplishment. That's positivity of thought folks!

Everybody studies, especially during examinations.They put in a lot of hardwork.They give it their best shot.There's no room for shirkers in medical school.

It's our fault that we have made a really cruel system. But atleast we can learn to appreciate the microscopic webs that have entangled us and forced us to compare and quantify, compare and categorize, compare and segregate, & compare and overlook..Overlook what is as difficult as nothing, and as easy as everything.

It's not so surprising that the chap who used to be considered notorious while in college and who was below average is the one who cracks and rocks the post graduate exam, and bags a handsome seat. And lo! Series of jaw drops, brow raises and sighs.
Followed by days of retrospection.Even faces glooming with disbelief.Life is a bitch, aint it? Haha!!

A 'bright student' is a concept. Novel and rewarding.
A 'dull kid' is a belief. Disheartening and insulting.
Such algorithms must be applied within the class.Not externally.And never through examination results.

Not all stones are precious.
Not all precious stones are diamonds.
Not all diamonds are Kohinoor.
And still a diamond is a stone -- some stones please the jeweler, and some please the witch, some are collected by a historian or an archaeologist, & some are pelted by an angry mob.

Toutes des couleurs sont dans la nature.
<All the colors are in the nature.>
And yet, none is so remorseful or ugly that it is universally hated.

This being the first blog and the gravity of the topic I kicked off with, I am still not so confident that as I sign off, I have been able to create a picture of what medical school and examinations are all about. Well, for crystal clearity, keep following and tracking my journey through this jungle they call Medicine.
There are twists and turns.And there is sugar and spice.
All that shall blend into an experience much nice.

Ah the melancholy of a MedFella!

Take home : The Crux -
At medical school, he who comes last, is also a doctor.