I still remember the day i got my medical common entrance results... of the thousands who had appeared for the exam i was in the top 100.
i was going to join the elite group of doctors. study and train in the premier institute the state had to offer. in short i had achieved what all the school , college, classes teachers keep harping about "bache padhai karo tabhi to bade ho kar doctor ,engineer banoge." the quintessential indian middle class mentality.. i say middle class because the rich have enough money to put their kids in private colleges and the poor and underprivilidged,if they r privilidged to be from lower classes have reservetions. i say indian dream because only indians r still fixated abt the dr degree.
and so the journey started ..the voyage actually.
five and a half years later and i am still on the road to be a doctor.
after four years my engineer friends started earning..
after these five and a half years my Bsc plus mba degree friends have started talking of pay packets..
i have no complaints...but when i heard that our course is going to be extended to 6 and1/2 years.. that is when the cream started turning sour.
The day i got my common entrance results, the colony kids came asking..
didi what book to read, how many hours do u study, what do you eat...which classes did you join.
The first day of our med college our dean addressed us ..welcome u now belong to the cream of society. you were the best students in your respective schools , the meritorious scholars of your colleges and now you will be doctors... the CREME DE LA CREME.
five years hence i travel 3 hours to a health centre in a rural part of bombay called malvani, spend the morning seeing kids, elerly ppl, dispensing medicine, vaccinating kids, going into the homes talking about Aids, counselling pregnant women about nutrition .. travel back...and STUDY. i study in the train, in between patients , after coming back in the evening.. why? because my future is not secure. because i have yet another common entrance to give.. to be part of yet anothyer creme de creme society of the post graduates.. But the cream is slowly getting sour.
We already have one year of internship, in which we get i stipend of 1700 a month.. 2oooo a year.. which most of my own batch engineers earn in a month but i am ok with that.
when does the cream get sour? when the govt makes the internship for two years.. when our future is on hold for another year, or more.
people say.. but you like serving people, you are doctors you should serve people- yes , i care, but for 1700 a month ! and with an uncertain future! i care but at my own cost?! and why are doctors singled out to care for tyhe rural india?
people say that we will earn later in life...how much later ..i am 23, another year of internship 24..one year to prepare for entance ..25.. three years pgt..28... three years rural post graduate bond..31... setting up practice ... 35.
and we were the cream of society...
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8 comments:
Finally ur frustrated side is revealed doc!!.. N u know wat, the this 'too shall pass mantra' ll fail us here. Lets hope that in this case, this (bill) shall actually not pass!!
Cream sour hote hote uska dahi ban gaya hai!
The worst part is that after studying for 5 long years...I still hide my face when someone faints in the train!I put Amit Ashish ka book inside my bag n get down immediately!
perfect. the only way we can prevent ourselves from turning rancid is to stay happy in whatever comes ahead. but this uncertainty of things gettin worse during ur career till u r done with p g sucks... AMIR
Just wanna tell the govt that, remember no matter how much n how long u churn us, ultimately the cream will make its own path to the top. chak de...
each on has his own story to tell but the bloody prob is...well lets accept it we INTERNS ouselves!!!
there are pple in our batch who have had to do extra postings other than d regular ones... has anyone ever raised a voice against the whole "fever opd" or "extra recruits" tamasha??
all i can say is... TRY TO WIN A BATTLE AGAINST D PSM DEPT 1st, en talk abt stopping d extra yr ruralship bill...
You rock sis! Me proud of u! kitna paisa mangta? tu bas bol....
Good one kuheli. just wanna add one thing that Govt is confused about education and jobs.
we are students of this stream.
Govt is short of people to work in rural areas.that never means that they can put students to their service. if they are short of sweepers, they cant force any citizen to work there.
if MSEB is short of engineers can they pull out engineers from colleges there?
Internship is about gaining experience before stepping out as full-fledged doctors.
they can extend internship only if they find our outcome as doctors is not satisfactory. and not becos they r short of workers.
p.s. i hope they have enough sservants or we'll start hearing "i am posted at minister's toilet as cleaner!!!"
I say, i am glad you, seem to be where you want to be. to me a toilet cleaner is a toilet cleaner perhaps because of a lack of opportunities or as we say in America. born on the wrong side of the tracks. I hope you do good and be good.
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