What's it Like to be a Medical Student in India?

Schedule of a Medical Student

A medical student during his grad course wakes up with the earliest rays of sunrise, he has a table attached to his bed, he freshen up and lifts up the pen bookmarked in the books. He tries to race with the words of the book to build up understanding with the leftovers of the aftermath he did yesterday. After breakfast, there are the long tiring lectures, followed by lunch and the library date. Some more studies. 10- 16 long hours of study, absence of movies, trips and hangouts strike the mind in the times when friends of other stream are having fun. Med students have to compromise fun and sleep with studies.

However this is not the case with every successful medical student.

Initial Phase

“The initial phase is like lost in the labyrinth of medical terms, being introduced to a completely new language. It’s amazing how human body and brain works, everyday is a challenge for the medical students”, said Ridhima Sachdeva (MBBS 3^rd year student). Although medical students get exposed to the wards early, they don't get directly involved in patient care until internship. Same is the scenario throughout the course programme.

On the contrary Meenakshi Jain shares a different opinion. She says, “I TOTALLY LOVE being an MBBS student! The popular belief that "You have to study 24/7" in this stream, is a MYTH. Few decent hours (3-5 hours) of study per day is enough to have a great deal of medical knowledge. Yes, things get tense and stressful around examination times, but this is true for every other field of education. As regards social life, there is no dearth of new social connections that you make in this field! You get to know a lot of new people, get to make new friends....and enjoy social events too!”

Drawbacks of Medical Training in INDIA

Therelative lack of funding and infrastructure for research perhaps is the biggest drawback to medical training in India. Medical students do not experience the adventure of discovery or the satisfaction of contributing to medical knowledge. Med students are also at a disadvantage when applying for residency programs in the United States because they have not published any papers.

Journey Continues

“Becoming a doctor is a continual process and not a single point event. You evolve gradually, becoming better day by day with experience. You learn things in bits and pieces and then one day you realize that everything seems to be fitting in one place, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle”, said Harsimar Singh, a medical PG student.

"Once Indian students complete their MBBS they can pursue a postgraduate course in India or go abroad. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to get into a postgraduate course here because there are few positions compared with the number of new graduates. As a result, some graduates settle for a speciality where they can get in, even if it wasn't their first choice." Said Rahul Patial, an MBBS intern.

Dr. Vitul Goyal a MBBS 2006-2012 batch currently preparing for USMLE said "I want to go to the United States mainly because it offers better salaries and quality of life as compared to India. Also working hours per week is much less in US."

Also Read : Various Options After MBBS in India

Conclusion

It requires right amount of hard work, smartness, understanding, and all other required ingredients added in correct proportion to prepare a successful doctor. The journey maybe different for different medical students as, some may have to compromise with all the luxuries to learn and clear the Medical degree or some may take in regular dose of attentive study for few hours without affecting their social life. It is up to the med students how they want to get through their medical preparations because at the end of the day you want to see your dream fulfilled no matter how many hardships and failures you faced.

Tell us about your journey and career aspirations in the comments below.

Best Wishes!!