difficult road ahead
Dr PK Gupta, Professor of Medicine, Subharti Institute of Medical Sciences, Uttar Pradesh says that this decision will affect the basic education of UG students. “The first year MBBS students are trained in Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, all of which have a comprehensive curriculum. Initially, it takes time to get acquainted with the medical terminology and if a student is placed in a city other than his/her hometown, it also takes time to adjust to the environment,” he says.
need rest time
The NMC notification also said, “Foundation course will be covered after normal teaching hours or on weekends/holidays.” Leaves of first, second and third professionals have also been cut by one month.
Dr. Ameesha Maru, who is currently doing her internship at AIIMS, New Delhi, says, “The first year of MBBS is the time when students participate in the college society and form interpersonal relationships that will help them during their medical journey. There will be a support system. Eating during students’ rest time can cause major mental and physical health issues.”
In most medical colleges, the first-year schedule is from 9-5, she adds. “Generally, students take a break till dinner before going back to their books for revision, homework and assignments. Without this break, the students are bound to be exhausted,” says Maru. In addition, outside students use the weekend to visit their families while smaller groups can take short trips to recharge. Thus, doing away with the weekend may not be such a good idea, she explains.
Possible ways to proceed
The road ahead will be challenging for both the faculty and the students, says Dr Z Jayapragarajan, Professor and Head, Department of Medical Education, JIPMER, Puducherry. “While students can still be guided as per the new schedule, the faculty will face a tough time in ensuring quality delivery of courses in the revised time frame. While online classes had raised the issue of learning loss during the pandemic, this change would only exacerbate the problem if the right measures were not taken,” he explains.
The revised timetable needs to focus on areas that should be made mandatory for all students to appear in person, says Jayapragsarjan. “Most of the subject areas covered here can be covered in the exam. Students can be given the freedom to participate in the remaining courses in hybrid or online mode or they can learn on their own,” he explains.
Accordingly, changes can be made to the timetable as well, says Jayapragasarajan. “An additional lecture of one hour may be added to the program daily. Also, Saturday may be made a mandatory working day in medical colleges. This will help in aligning the additional courses,” he added.
issue for all
Dr. Kriti Nausran, a second year PG student at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, says that the problem of paucity of time is being faced by all the students. “My promotion in the second year was due in July 2021. Due to the pandemic, the promotion took place in February 2022. Thus, the batch missed out on seven months of training and learning. We are now working overtime to ensure that we cover the learning gap within the stipulated time frame,” she explains.
While the decision will be stressful for the students, they will have to bow down. “The big picture says this will help the incoming batches as well as deadlines for their own medical education journey, so instead of getting stressed, they have to start working extra hard,” she explains.
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