Exam Forms

Yes, the day is finally here. That dreaded day when I submit my Examination form. Yesterday, we had to run around a lot for a lot of things that need to be done.
1. The Challan - You get that challan in the Students' Section in college and then after having filled in the details, you go to the bank in college to fill your exam fees. I don't why and how it happened, but when I went to fill in my challan, there were just 2 people ahead of me. For the past three years, I've had to wait in that damned sun and then in a stuffy room (called the bank branch) to pay that money. Yesterday, however, luck smiled upon me a little. I could even go for my Gynaecology lecture, I was so sure I was going to miss!

2. The No-Dues Certificates- There are two such certificates for people living at home (god knows how many for those using the Hostel). One is from the Hostel saying we have no dues there, and another from the College saying that we've paid our fees and we have no dues here either. I was smart and lucky enough to pay my fees on Thursday itself. This fees business is really annoying. I started telling myself that I had to pay the fees way back in March. Obviously, I never did it. I realised that last week and since then, its been a task to remind myself every single night. Somehow, I did that on Wednesday night. I was so lucky, because when I came to college yesterday, there was a HUGE line of students waiting to pay their fees; a line that did not get shorter until the guy collecting the money declared "lunchtime". Phew!! The great part about paying your fees close to the exam form filling time is that you have those Receipts ready at hand. In  my first year, I had to waste a few days looking for those receipts (we'd paid the whole money at the start of the year itself) :-P

3. The Certificates from ObGy and Anaesthesia Departments -  This is new. This is NOT nice. When your examination form have to be submitted the very next day, and that ObGy Department decides to act mean because they have a three-day workshop to conduct, it hits your nerves at all the wrong spots. It definitely made me want to spit all kinds of stuff at my Professors and maybe even the HoD, if he'd turned up. But, I wasn't alone so I was restrained by my friends big time. They did give us the stamps that we required. After all, a whole batch failing because they refused to co-operate will be much bigger news than some stupid workshop that went the chaos-way.
The thing about these certificates is that it is plain useless work. We have to stick our photos on the certificate page of our Journals. Then, we have to catch hold of a Lecturer, and only a Lecturer of the concerned Department to get it attested ( which consists of his/her signature and the stamp of their designation). So, you may have the best of acquaintance with a person at a higher designation, it will be of no use.
Choosing these two departments only, and not the others fails to spark any light inside my considerably intelligent head. The only reason I can think of, is that its their last way of troubling us. Anaesthetists are never outside the OT. So, you roam about carrying your OT material and get inside every OT possible to catch hold of those people. The Department itself is also located just outside the OT. So, you may be told to wear your OT slippers at least, to enter it.
ObGy has the most number of OPDs that a stream can have. Our timetable in ObGy is like a superfast busy Deccan Queen. Every day there's something different. There's Antenatal OPD, Gynaecology OPD, MTP OPD, Labour Room Day, Wards Day and OT Day. 6 out of 6. Nothing repeats. So, getting hold of lecturers is pretty tough. You shall only have one lecturer in the ward on one day, or you simply run around to the other places, located on a completely different floor!

We did get the stamps and the certificates. At the end of the day though, my legs had given in to that accumulated lactic acid. They did not want to walk, neither did they want to move. So did my mind actually. I slept pretty early. But, thanks to that wonderful ghost that haunts me this year (''YOU DO NOT KNOW A THING") I got up early to study.
Exam Forms shall be submitted on Monday ( hopefully, I shall get my No-Dues Certificate from the hostel. It is such a pain in the ass to wait for days on the end for just a formality! I don't even use the hostel, and I weren't forced to pick up books from my hostelite friends, I wouldn't even know where it was! However, I still wait. Wait for the same amount of time as my hostel colleagues. That's the fairness of this world, isn't it?  

P.S. I am officially certified to write my exam now :-D The college thinks so. Do I??

Competitiveness

The urge to compete, the urge to win, the urge to somehow get ahead in a never-ending race of examinations.....
And I have suddenly got it!! I swear, I was never into the business of wanting to get more marks than somebody else, of wanting to study more, of wanting to KNOW that I am the better. I have been laid-back in life, in studying actually.
I have this crazy, maddening feeling that I need to perform better than some others. In fact, I now believe that I can do it. I know it might be tough and can definitely take a toll on me, but I simply want to do it all. I don't know exactly how this has got into me. But, I can say that the feeling has been building up. It started with my Gynaec term and the great reviews I got there, was carried on by my Pyschiatry Term-end, in which I ended up with the highest marks in the batch (37/50). Anaesthesia added another boost by coming up with a 20/25 in the MCQ test. Then, there have been the results of the current terminal examination. I have got the highest marks in the theory examination of Microbiology (38/50), and I think I did pretty well in Pathology (theory) also to get 39.5/50. I wish I had got better teachers to take the viva. I would have done much better than 26.5 and 23 respectively.
My point is that, I finally think I'm going in the right direction and that things are working well for me (touchwood). It is just like the form of a sportsperson. At times, you are at your best and all the hard work just helps you do much than you normally would have. Other times, you can do the best your body can manage, but you still don't reach the peaks that you have set yourself. Right now, I feel confident, I feel I am capable of doing things I want to do, I feel comfortable with all the marks, and I don't feel the pressure to perform. I want to perform and I  know I will. I just am so excited to start (and Parasitology only makes things even spicier!!).
So, with all the focus coming in, I love and enjoy Medicine even more. What more can a student want?

The Vacation Approaching

The two term-ends did end up happening. I should say that Anaesthesia was much much better than Radiology. Firstly, because we got new questions and I knew quite a lot of them. And secondly, because an MCQ test doesn't end up making the Examiner tired of looking at Students' faces as they come in and go out. We even discussed the answers after the test was over. I got around 20 of them. So that means I am safe and will not get a re-term on the basis of my marks. Getting a re-term on the basis of attendance is another issue.
Radiology was long, tiring and, in the end, very boring. There was just one teacher taking the term-end for 50 students..And I wasn't even from the current batch. So I had to wait even longer to get it done with. Finally, when my turn came, the only question asked to me was "What abnormality do you see in the X-Ray in front of you?" I replied, "Cardiomegaly" "How do you assess cardiomegaly?" "By measuring the Cardio-Thorasic ratio (CTR)." She then explained how to measure the ratio. We then talked about Echocardiography and that's that. She gave me 25. That hurt a bit. I wish I could have gotten a chance to tell her more about what all I knew. I definitely deserved more than 25. But the fact is that I finished off with both my term-ends. The headache and continued nagging inside of me has been trampled upon, even if that means that the numbers aren't very heavy. 
We now have Ohpthalmology. Three of us went to the OT today, but it is shut for some maintenance till Wednesday. I really wanted to go have a look today. Very disappointing not to be able to do it. I don't think I am going to have any enthusiasm left till Wednesday, so I'm going to turn my attention to what I had planned to do in the pre-vacation. I have to finish big chunks of my Pathology and Pharmacology portion till Sunday. I am trying my level best to get that done.

Two term-ends coming up!!....I hope...

I finally finished with all my Anaesthesia cases. Wow! A relief! I couldn't get sleep on Monday night thinking about how many of them I had left!! I kept telling myself that I should be able top complete three cases the next day so that I'd have a shot at finishing them all, well in time. The sleepless night paid its results, and today I stand (rather, sit) in front of the computer proud to have taken all 10 cases complete with the signatures and everything.
My Anaesthesia term-end is on Saturday only. We tried to make the lecturer take it tomorrow, but the attempt was pretty futile. I don't know how it is going to be possible to give two term-ends on one day. But, I want to finish off with both then. I don't want that Radiology term-end to get postponed to 30th May!!
I've started studying for the Terminal exams coming in the last week of June. I do hope I will be able to do just fine, and not disappoint myself once for a change.
That is actually it. Nothing else going on in college right now. The atmosphere is one of gloom, tension and exams...

On the Other Side of a Break

Radiology turns out to be a strange subject. The aura around it is amazing. It is one of those ungettable things, you only study for and wish to do your post-graduation in. It is a branch that has money, doesn't have a lot of odd working hours, and also makes you an integral part of the patient's treatment, but at the same time, you have to study beyond limit for the same. And, as we learnt from our posting of 15 days, it isn't a very interesting subject to listen to.

I guess, teachers do decide the love you tend to feel for anything. And, as good doctors as they may be, the people in the Radiology department did not turn out to be great teachers. We learnt something, but had it not been for my prior decision to include the subject on my "I'd-like -to-do-my-PG-in-this" list, I'd have hated it.

I still have to give my term-end. The break ate up 30th April, when I should have given it. But, since it was amazing, I don't care much. I'm hoping to give the term-end on 15ht May.

Moving onto Anaesthesia, man! it is one BORING subject!!! We just seem to be running around doing clerical work, copying cases down, and then having to listen to one lecturer screaming her head off at us, as if we were posted in the Department for that very purpose. I still have 7 more cases left, and I hope to finish them off in 2 days. Frankly, I'm not very interested in the subject. And, also I'm hoping ardently that Anaesthesia takes the term-end one day before the term ends (i.e., on Friday), so that I can be free to give the Radiology term-end on Saturday.

SO, the other side of the break doesn't have very exciting things coming up. It is gut-wrenching to have nothing to look forward to. But, I think the break came at a vert apt time, so I can't be complaining much, can I?

Gynae, SOS!!!!

My Gynae term has almost come to an end, and I don't feel like I've anything new. Yeah, actually, it's wrong to say that. I have learnt something. But, there's no feeling of achievement, of having learnt something that can make me want to do Gynae. In fact, the feelings are the exact opposite.

Having watched children being born, I am not exactly awed by the procedure. Contrary to that, I'm grossed out by it all. And I have huge respect for any woman who has gone through it all. Man, we have a tough life, don't we?

Our term-end was divided into 4 parts:

1. Complete Journal - 5 marks

2. A short viva by our HOU - 5 marks

3. Case Presentation - 15 marks

4. Table Viva - 15 marks

Points 2. and 3. are over, and they were good. I got a Previous Lower Segment Caesarean Section case, and I enjoyed answering the questions. Trust me, the only enjoyable experience this whole term has been this part of the term-end. The journal completion was hell, and I still have to get it signed.

The last part of the term-end will be held on Monday. I am sort of dreading that, because this is the real test. Of knowledge, application, understanding and of course, the pre-requisite of Medicine - memory. I hope I do well.

The next terms we will have are 15-day terms - Radiology, Anaesthesia, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry. I'm excited about them.

College has been full of interesting academic activities, the latest being the Dr. V.S. Prayag Memorial Oration by Dr. Velu Nair, on Stem Cell Therapy and its future. It was a very interesting take.

Last weekend, we also attended our first Clinico-Pathological Correlation Seminar, popularly termed as CPC. It was a typhoid case. Every department involved presents their viewpoint, and then everyone has a take on the final diagnosis. Lastly, like the magic box, the pathologist has a final say and gives what the actual diagnosis was. Since it was a first, we didn't understand much. But it was an interesting 2 hours to spend.

So, life is abound with lots of sources of knowledge, and I'll make the best I can out of it all.