The hassled medical student

Not many tortures and rapturous delights of life juxtapose with the rich variety and depth of acquaintance, the agonies and dangers shared by medical students in their voyage of evolution from unrefined school kids to accomplished doctors in their swan-like white-coat exaltation. During the initial overwhelming exhilaration of qualifying for a premier medical college, most fresh enthusiasts do not comprehend that they are asking for grievous injury to their dura mater. The selection process filters exceptional students used to be the toppers in their school, and brings them as equals in Medical College on a common platform. So the brainy one in the elementary school becomes just one of the guys in the anatomy hall! Thus, begins the medical student's tedious and uphill sojourn, where small achievements are few and far between and kudos and appreciations a rara avis.

                  Throughout the 5 tough years in a Medical College confusions amid disagreements plague him. Hardly has he acclimatized to the feeling of achievement at having made it to the medical college that he has to contend with failure and get used to the idea of flunking, supplementary exams and more flunking. Considering the resilience and toughness peculiar to his breed, the medical student adapts readily to the changed scenario. He learns to grin and bear it all- the cadaveric gloom of the dissection table, the soporific lassitude of biochemical reactions and their kaleidoscopic colors over the spirit lamp; the slimy frogs and black drums of physiology lab that leave him with debilitated spirits, questioning what he ever did to earn all this! He clutches at strings nevertheless, and tutors himself to cross the first obstructions of medical life and starts the conceptual coup d’etat with disease.

The mind of the miserable medical student is an arena of emotions where he desires enviously to be like non medical students as they rejoice the spring of their lives, while he struggles with bacteria and viruses, drug pharmacokinetics and dynamics, forensic perversions and delinquency. He learns to, mix carminative mixtures and rabbit ileum, stretch his imagination in the microscopic world of vague and ambiguous life-forms and scrutinize the bizarre architecture of pathological specimens.

No less disturbing is the student’s reconnaissance into the clinical battlefield and hospital wards. All his extravagant hallucinations regarding the magnanimity of his chosen profession languish like waves on the shores of reality. On one hand he is deluged with theoretical facts, while on the other, he is increasingly crippled by the futility of his inadequate tools in the face of human suffering. As all the presumptions of his adolescent naiveté and candor disappear like dew in the cacophonous blaze of the real world, his immature psyche grapples to keep step with savior faire, extravagant knowledge and graying experience of life.

As he struggles with his own miserable adulthood, academic chauvinists wait at every step to annihilate his enthusiasm. He comes face to face with internal disagreement: ‘How in the world can dedicate his own life, to bulwark life, if the excitement for life itself is dead within him? How can he safeguard life, if the passion within him is gone?’ Under siege from foes of his unwavering spirit, the medical student learns to camouflage his enthusiasm but keeps his fire burning from inside, never extinguished, his determination bruised but never crushed. Skillfully like a ballet dancer, he dances his way through the labyrinth of gargantuan egos, where stalwarts await their prey with tentacles spread.

As the rest of humanity understands life in its gory and glory after the sixth decade, we as  potential doctors perceive and testify it before we turns twenty-five. For all the brave and valiant doctors trying to interpret the mess and marvel of human existence, this tribute goes out from an ex-medical student and teacher to the present medical student and potential healer - Just hang in there!