Thursday, April 8, 2010

I am an INDIAN doctor please

I am an INDIAN doctor please

I was born in a holy city of Uttar Pradesh..We have never stayed there but family has some roots in Punjab..I did my initial schooling from Delhi and moved out of India with my parents for few years..I studied in an (embassy runned) Indian school there..When my parents returned to india, I resumed schooling in Rajasthan.. Through various all india level exams I was selected for MBBS at few places including a prestigious institute in Uttar Pradesh & a government college in south India..Now seeing the proximity to my home state Rajasthan, I thought of joining MBBS in that prestigious university of Uttar Pradesh..

The CONFUSION of my identity begins!!

During MBBS,we had a regional divide ..Few UP groups fighting with bihari gangs in university..J&K students had very good comraderie..Medical college had less of all this but nonetheless I was called Rajasthani queen by a senior in 1st yr!! ( Maharani padharo during ragging)..Since then I was identified as being from non-bihari/UP group.. OK!! cool...Delhi,Rajasthan,MP,Punjab etc people bonded and stayed out of politics mostly...( in fact we were all more focused on running home on every holiday!!correspondence MBBS wasn't available... lol ! but that's another story!! )

Part2 of this identity crisis begins when MBBS gets over.. I return home in rajasthan& join PG test series & coaching..Here many people that I met kept making subtle remarks about my being UP WALA or Having learnt UP cleverness (whatever that means) by studying for MBBS there..So far So good..Everyone forgets that I have done 9 years of studies /schooling from Rajasthan and represented the state at national level when I won a gold medal as a junior scientist (in school level) -- in UP I was Rajasthani & in Rajasthan, I am mbbs from UP so become UPwali.. My relatives from Punjab claim I am originally punjabi(I can't even speak that language! but still )..So may be I am like a cross cultural cuisine( like a marwari kadhi having punjabi tadka served with basmati rice of UP ) Also some side dishes will be added to this gala feast called Dr.Sonal based on my PG education ahead--like coconut chutney if I join MD/MS in Chennai or khaman dhokla/khakhra if I join Gujarat medical colleges or may be vada pao from MNS land if Raj Thakre permits me to learn to cook it!!
My own domicile state of Rajasthan royals didn't allow me to appear in Rajasthan pre -PG examination.. May be even Shane Warne can call himself a Rajasthan royal but I am a lesser mortal as I dared to do MBBS outside my state..

Ahem!!All India PG exam conducted by AIIMS and doctors from all over India get selected and all hell breaks lose!! where to go? Some people warn-there is gujju vs non-gujju bias in Gujarat..ok!someone adds calcutta has language problem.. bongs dont like punjabis!!( I am punjabi by origin--must hide this detail if I join med.college kolkata)..Next news: haryana jats are not easy to deal with..ok!!punjab is good but someone said in punjab, UP/Bihar ke bhaiye are not appreciated much!!..ok!! southies dont like northies plus you cant adjust with the food there..What if I like coconut chutney?no!!you r a kid!you don't understand madrasis are different!! There is north-south bias there..I was talking about bangalore but for average northie--it's all madras!!..next is maharasthra==MNS is already scaring me so much!I  won't even write about it..did I miss out any states?? ah yes..bihar!! law& order is so gOOd that I won't be able to follow it..Assam!! every time I dont answer a call my well wishers wil think I've been killed by BODO violence.... chatissgarh/orissa side has naxal violence..have I covered all the sides of this story?? hmm.. let me come straight to the centre..one & only Madhya pradesh-most of its medical colleges' PG degree coarses have A/P written against their names which means only permitted/approved by MCI not recognised..
oh!wait a min!!I forgot to mention that 2 states of India donot share their MBBS& MD/MS seats with rest of India--J&K and andhra pradesh...
Also states like maharashtra&himachalpradesh& few others have kept hefty service bonds to scare people of other states away..really! We all know its meant to ensure service in govt.sector for poor/rural areas but the only purpose such bonds actually serve is scaring outsiders away from these states..

Some places a resident gets a single seated room to stay & at some colleges he/she is forced to share the room with 3 more people..Why does he not require some privacy after long gruelling night duties?Or has he in any way studied less than the guy sleeping peacefully in a single room..?? May be the govt. wants to teach him to share ..He has not learnt enough in his 25 yrs of life thats why!!

Firstly we are paid less than any Engineering graduate(not only IIT but also private college pass-outs)....Add to this there is no uniform stipend given to resident doctors..Somewhere it is around 40000 and somewhere only 11000.. Why??Do doctors work less in mumbai & bangalore? or delhi& UP residents need to dine out more often?? May be night duties are less in gujarat& himachal??no!! It's just that states decide randomly according to their own funds..
If one central exam ALL INDIA PG having common 300 questions can decide fate of so many MBBS pass outs of this country,Why cant some central committee make some basic norms for resident doctors all over the country..?? because no one wants to raise a voice and ask a question..
[ I have not even mention the taboo "r"issue here..yes! reservation..because that's totally a different topic& now I feel no power in universe can remove it from our country even for exams deciding medical postgraduation where people lives will be handled by someone!! ]

SO WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? I am CONFUSED.. are you not?? Just by reading this you can probably understand my quandary..this dilemma of having a mixed identity..of not being able to decide where to join & how to cope with these unimportant academically yet essential for day to day living issues...

I want to join a college for PG based on academic considerations..Why doesn't anyone try to ensure that?By providing certain equal amenities to all medical colleges it can be ensured..
also please welcome outsiders to your state..a doctor has no religion/region/bias.. we have to serve humanity..language & food is not a barrier I feel..it's an added asset..(if I learn tamil& practise in rajasthan I may be of help to an ailing soul from chennai when he falls sick while roaming in rajasthan on a holiday..)

Hippocratic oath is great but there should be a oath for good patients& govt.s too I feel..We can follow our oath if you let us ..A doctor's primary duty is to serve humanity..Help him to do that selflessly.. Productivity & efficiency of a person will increase if he is stress free , happy & working under good conditions..This applies to companies as well as hospitals..The govt. or newspapers who complain about strikes by resident doctors should know this basic fact that the less stressful our life will be the better we will work for you..So if you help ease out a doctors life,it doesn't mean he will dance in a disco tomorrow night..It means doctors will serve humanity in a better way



Scores of Indian doctors are taking indian MBBS degrees and going to do post graduation in US/UK/AUSTRALIA.. They are serving the people of those foreign countries for a selfish reason--They get better living & research conditions there..I salute those of them who take some degree out of India & return later to serve country with the higher skills acquired outside..But truth is most of them dont return.. But those doctors who are staying in INDIA by choice..Let them be proud of their decision please.. I didnt decide to go out of India..( not because of lack of money/opportunity but because of a small incident)..One day I realised that if my home has a problem like a leaking tap or a fused bulb or a sick relative, do I leave my home & enter my friends'/neighbors' house??no!! I stay put & fight the problem or mend the thing..so thats it.. I am proud of being an Indian and will do my best in the health system of this country..

At last let me end this by saying I AM AN INDIAN DOCTOR .. That's what I want to be known as,not from any state /region.. Like humanity has no boundaries,similarly medicine has no boundaries.. The same disease afflicts the rich or the poor,the employed or the unemployed,the neta or the chela.. The same doctor and the same medicine can treat them.. If disease & its cure are same why not ensure similar& good working conditions for the medium of delivary i.e. the doctor?
All Indian doctors want to serve humanity selflessly that is why they have not joined btech/humanities..But they also want to eat,drink& if not be merry atleast live happily..Pursuit of happiness is a basic human right and not even doctors can be denied it in name of selfless service to patients..Welcome them with open arms in any medical college they decide to join..Doctors have no class/creed/region.. Our religion is serving humanity.. HELP DOCTORS HELP YOU.. because I am an INDIAN DOCTOR.. JAI HIND!!

8 comments:

  1. nice writeup & feelings about Country.
    there are central institutes like AIIMS, PGI, JIPMER.which are best institutes of our country.

    Chhattisgarh is not a totally afflicted state by naxals nor its a very small place, you can check out.
    Metros like mumbai and bangalore have good education facilities.

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  2. thanx a lot for following my blog and responding with suggestions..i am extremely grateful for the advice..i ll try my luck at AIIMS/PGI also.. i am sorry if u felt bad that i wrote something abt naxal violence& chattisgarh--didnt mean to be offensive abt any city/state! my apologies sir.. its just a comment i heard while discussing cities for joining PG through all india pg.. i added all the comments to make it funny!!&interesting also!! the real msg i want2 convey is indian doctors are a class apart

    thanx again sir

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  3. was nice reading this again.. why again ? because I had been through all this before while trying to get an entrance seat.. Im attaching a link of some of those articles related to being a doc out here.. hope u enjoy it..

    And more importantly, hope u get a good seat in the end...
    http://brokenroads.blogspot.com/2010/03/doc-tales.html

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  4. nice post! especially the part where you describe the difficulties one faces to choose a college from outside their state..overall an awesome read!

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  5. gr8 one again.. u knw even i face the same... havin missed de U.G seat from my state by a rank had no other option but to go outside deep down south had food prob but never complained coz i wanted education need to sacrifice a bit (as if bein a doc ws less of sacrifices of personal life). ppl do treat u lik northies n southies but northies were taken as superior (at least in my place).Though the place ws disgusting (ppl say if u survive here u can survive in any part of the world) i never complained.. now havin finished my mbbs wen i come nak to my state.. m foreigner here to.. (foreign university) if i wan admission in my state need to give entrance lik all others from here n even if m topper (wish i could) i will get a chance only after the merit list of students from university here gets over which is never gonna happen {its lik sayin no the other way}. my ug state offers me chance to compete but the state is crippled with private colleges which form 7/8 majority (not to mention the "r" word there in service quota also applies.. ultimately what m left with is 4 coll n totally 140 seats including diploma. the equation comes lik 140:3200 general candidates.. n then gettin a branch is lik a dream..though private colleges do let out seats in the 140 they usually give the seats which they hav no takes in management quota (usually non clinical).. so here i stand at CROSSROADS NOT KNOWIN WHER TO GO..

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  6. Hi!

    Interesting write up, and in certain ways, inspiring too.

    One small suggestion. You write well on the whole, so the sms lingo, e.g. 'pls' (at least to me) doesn't sound good to me.

    Cheers!

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  7. I like this part of your post honey!

    scores of indian doctors are taking indian MBBS degrees and going to do post graduation in US/UK/AUSTRALIA.. they are serving the people of those foreign countries for a selfish reason--they get better living conditions there..i salute those of them who tak some degree out of india &return later to serve country with the higher skills acquired outside..but truth is most of them dont return.. but those doctors who are staying in INDIA by choice..let them be proud of their decision please.. i didnt decide to go out of india.. not because of lack of money/opportunity but because of a small incident..one day i realised that if my home has a problem like a leaking tap or a fused bulb or a sick relative, do i leave my home & enter my friends'/neighbors' house??no!!i stay put & fight the problem or mend the thing..so thats it..i am proud of being an indian and will do my best in the health system of this country..

    I find your blog interesting enough to put on blogroll. Keep writing even after you get residency. It takes few minutes, but keeps your readers updated.

    ReplyDelete