Looking back and forward

PIMS graduates at their graduation on 3rdAug.2012

As I watched the  above graduates gleefully throw up their caps at the end of their ceremonial photograph, I sensed their sense of relief and freedom from undergraduate days. 

That is surely behind them, but there is something more ahead of them- further training and career path. Although this happy occasion does not merit any discussion about it, that is what I heard the graduates privately talk between themselves. They are overtaken by anxiety about further training, as only 1 out of 50 graduates will qualify to get an opportunity to get into post graduate training, considering the limited number of the post graduate seats available in Medical colleges, as of now. 

I heard some of the parents waiting to join the graduation ceremony also, talk about the uncertain future for their children. It was a happy occasion for the parents, but the long journey into the future has only begun for them and their children. 

I wonder whether medical graduates will review their inclination to get into post graduate training immediately after their graduation! What if they worked for one or two years to get into a rhythm of work for bedside learning, team work, independent decision making,  becoming familiar with ethos, ethics and economics of health care, etc!  What if they chose to work in a smaller hospital or a rural hospital where basic medical and surgical specialities are practiced along with good community health initiatives! 

This can be a good introduction to general practice which is a foundation for any one who considers specialty training. A specialist must have an overview of all the broad specialities to be a better assessor of the needs of every patient approaching him or her.

A graduate will learn life lessons through active medical work, where as he or she will only memorize facts through the coaching programs they currently join in, to prepare for the post graduate entrance tests.

It is good to be a competent basic doctor first, before a graduate starts his or her post graduate training. I was encouraged to know that five graduates from PIMS have gone to work in rural areas this year. It is a trickle, but it sends to a message to others.

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)