well, the strike was over and i soon joined my routine at psmc. since the time of the admission, i was very well aware of the un recognized status of the mbbs degree of our college. however,.i and my parents were sure that the college would get recognition by the medical council of india. simlpy because we trusted name of hon. shree h. m. patel, once right hand of sardar patel. more over, there was no other option for me. i had to study at psmc if i wanted my dream of becoming a doctor to come true. it was last chance for me.
however, many of my friends took the admission with sheer ignorance. like, as for example, my good friend jasmine mehta, opted for psmc leaving all big and recognized medical colleges of gujarat only because her home was just nearby at vallabh vidya nagar. she stood 1st in merit in whole of the anand district and was eligible for admission at any medical college! but unfortunately [and fortunately for me!] her parents never knew what the animal known as MCI looked like!
there were many such students which chose psmc only because of proximity of their home. most of such students were from ahmedabad and vadodara..
it was natural for all the students to feel depressed on the issue of recognition. so, though full of college life, fun and of course studies, our campus at that time had a kind of hidden depression. because, some where deeper in minds of the students the feeling of being un recognized reeled. even in happy moments of any group some one would unknowingly hint at the problem and the moments soon would perish in air.
once, when we were having some happy time, some one spoke of recognition. the discussion was going on at nursing hostel probably at bimal chhaya's room. ketan shah, popularly known as ketan dada, told some stirring technical facts.
" you know, we were knowing this since admission." he said " since we were paying full donation, we know all the technical aspects." all others become silent and his voice grew more serious
" presently, if you pass out even with flying colors, with your mbbs degree from psmc, you are not more than 12th pass student of the state." his statement stunned us." let me tell you no one from us would be able to claim any government job."
"so what hell will we do with such a degree?"
" just think over. we are hoping to get recognition of our mbbs course by medical council of india. till then, we are 12th pass!"
" and what does it mean when they say our course is recognised by the sardar patel university? i know our course is recognised by the university" said some one trying to console the group.
" it means nothing. i mean, you will be recognised graduates of the university but remember no one can practice medicine without recognition from the MCI."
"and why the hell this MCI is not recognizing our college?"
" you see, i tell you the process" ketan dada was son of a very well known surgeon from rajkot. his father and mother were in the profession since years. "any college when demands recognition from the MCI, it invites the inspectors from MCI to show the facilities provided to teach the future doctors. the inspectors would come and tell what still is remaining to comply with the minimum standards. the college would be recognized only when all standards are met."
" and this would be done finally only when our first batch passes out." added vimal hemani, my good friend.
"suppose if the recognition does not come by the time the first batch passes out. what will happen to that batch? "
" that batch would remain 12 th pass!"
" you mean for their life time?"
" no no. it means they would remain 12th pass till our college gets recognition. they would be recognized as doctors retrospectively as a rule." said vimal.
there was silence in the room. all we could to was just to hope for the best.
" presently, the president of MCI is dr ketan desai, our doctor from gujarat university." some one added his knowledge.
so, soon after period of elation of getting in an mbbs course, this was a shock every one suffered who entered PSMC !
" and what about the post graduation?" a very relevant question.
" but first, tell me, do you really think we would be able to pass this mbbs?" ketan dada's comment made every one laugh. "any way, as of now, our college does not have any post graduate course. and neither we would be eligible for other university's PG course till the MCI recognizes our mbbs first."
"damn! we are trapped "
for me, at that time, just to be a doctor was the goal and post graduation meant nothing. i wanted to be a doctor and that would be served even if i was only an mbbs doctor. but to remain only 12 pass after five and half years blood sucking course? leave me, any one would commit suicide !
thus the waves of depression remained under current. the discussion was not limited to our campus. it gradually came to be a social stigmata. the people around us when asked about our study, we proudly would tell them about our gorgeous medical college. after listening everything, they would say " okay, so, PSMC ! is that your college? that unrecognized one no?" and would add " so what are your plans with such a degree?"
we frankly had no answer to such life questions except to keep mum and feel depressed. some one would feel pity on us while some one would say some words of hope. some times even parents of my friends got frustrated because of such discussions around them.
once, out of such frustration, we went to meet dr haridas, hardly knowing his technical position. he was the head of the department of biochemistry. he was living in a bungalow near the main entrance of the college. he greeted us with a big smile.
"come...welcome..."
" sir what will happen to our recognition?" we asked in panic.
" i hope soon it would be resolved" said he with wishful thinking. "all are trying their best. we hope to clear the inspection next time." our tender and innocent minds listened to him as if we were listening to the head of the MCI assuring us!
" and sir, what about our post graduation? our college does not have such courses."
" in that case, government may ask the other colleges to keep five five seats for our students in each of the medical colleges."
"wow! can this really happen?" sir showed us our day dream.
"may be.. let us hope so.."
though, sir, out of sympathy, showed us a day dream, we all believed in him and went away to our hostel room and slept nicely that night! the reality was far away from what he said and we were not knowing what challenges we would face in future.
our batch was probably were fourth in a row since the admissions started at the PSMC. the first batch was soon to go for the exams and we were waiting eagerly to see what happened to them.one day, some one said the team of inspectors from the MCI was to come to inspect our college. they were to ascertain the facilities at the college. their duty was to make our education a quality education by forcing the college authorities to provide minimum needed facilities.
the atmosphere of the campus became charged with buzz of issue of recognition. what facilities did our college have at that time? briefly, the college building was already like a new bride. the hospital was functioning since a few years more than the year of start of the college. our college had a vast campus, big and well designed building for running not only all the needed departments but also a good library and indoor sports facilities for the students. ( not mentioning dark corners and open huge terraces essential for lovers and official couples!).
our library was studded with big big cupboards stuffed with thick and horrible medical books. the journal section was rich with probably all possible uninteresting books subscribed from world over.
. we had a huge play ground surrounded by eucalypti trees on one side and mango trees on the other.same way, we had rainbow of teachers in each of the departments starting from head to tails. the labs had adequate equipment and experts of the subjects. all the teachers of the 1st mbbs were full timers. looking at all these, we felt, how any inspector could deny us recognition? what was lacking then?
even if being students of first mbbs, we used to go to the hospital sometimes just out of curiosity. our shri krishna hospital was a big hospital with all the major departments functioning with full time staff. the hospital had different wards. but that is where we saw the problem.since ours was a rural medical college away from any populated city, the patient turn over of our hospital was low. we used to see hardly a few patients admitted in wards.to be a good doctor, a medical student ought to be exposed to large number of patients.
when the dates approached, the college authorities started organizing health check up camps in near by villages and poured indoor patients in our hollow empty hospital wards to make up the needed number of patients ! we saw buses coming in our campus bringing people for admissions. god only could say how many of them were real patients! our wards looked like hospital wards first time ever since we joined.
i do not remember seeing the most wanted and still probably most disliked inspectors from the MCI but i do remember how depressed we felt when the news of denial of recognition arrived in the campus after few days of interval after the inspection.
there were different versions to explain. some people said, since h.m. patel was an honest man, he refused any favor to the inspectors and their bosses. some one said, dr ketan desai, the president of the MCI, had some personal account to be settled with one of our senior professor. there were so many theories.hardly a few believed our college really lacked the facilities.
this was just start of the torture. we had to face the inspection by the MCI almost every year. plight of a student working hard in such an unrecognized institute can be understood only by his or her fellow students.
however, many of my friends took the admission with sheer ignorance. like, as for example, my good friend jasmine mehta, opted for psmc leaving all big and recognized medical colleges of gujarat only because her home was just nearby at vallabh vidya nagar. she stood 1st in merit in whole of the anand district and was eligible for admission at any medical college! but unfortunately [and fortunately for me!] her parents never knew what the animal known as MCI looked like!
there were many such students which chose psmc only because of proximity of their home. most of such students were from ahmedabad and vadodara..
it was natural for all the students to feel depressed on the issue of recognition. so, though full of college life, fun and of course studies, our campus at that time had a kind of hidden depression. because, some where deeper in minds of the students the feeling of being un recognized reeled. even in happy moments of any group some one would unknowingly hint at the problem and the moments soon would perish in air.
once, when we were having some happy time, some one spoke of recognition. the discussion was going on at nursing hostel probably at bimal chhaya's room. ketan shah, popularly known as ketan dada, told some stirring technical facts.
" you know, we were knowing this since admission." he said " since we were paying full donation, we know all the technical aspects." all others become silent and his voice grew more serious
" presently, if you pass out even with flying colors, with your mbbs degree from psmc, you are not more than 12th pass student of the state." his statement stunned us." let me tell you no one from us would be able to claim any government job."
"so what hell will we do with such a degree?"
" just think over. we are hoping to get recognition of our mbbs course by medical council of india. till then, we are 12th pass!"
" and what does it mean when they say our course is recognised by the sardar patel university? i know our course is recognised by the university" said some one trying to console the group.
" it means nothing. i mean, you will be recognised graduates of the university but remember no one can practice medicine without recognition from the MCI."
"and why the hell this MCI is not recognizing our college?"
" you see, i tell you the process" ketan dada was son of a very well known surgeon from rajkot. his father and mother were in the profession since years. "any college when demands recognition from the MCI, it invites the inspectors from MCI to show the facilities provided to teach the future doctors. the inspectors would come and tell what still is remaining to comply with the minimum standards. the college would be recognized only when all standards are met."
" and this would be done finally only when our first batch passes out." added vimal hemani, my good friend.
"suppose if the recognition does not come by the time the first batch passes out. what will happen to that batch? "
" that batch would remain 12 th pass!"
" you mean for their life time?"
" no no. it means they would remain 12th pass till our college gets recognition. they would be recognized as doctors retrospectively as a rule." said vimal.
there was silence in the room. all we could to was just to hope for the best.
" presently, the president of MCI is dr ketan desai, our doctor from gujarat university." some one added his knowledge.
so, soon after period of elation of getting in an mbbs course, this was a shock every one suffered who entered PSMC !
" and what about the post graduation?" a very relevant question.
" but first, tell me, do you really think we would be able to pass this mbbs?" ketan dada's comment made every one laugh. "any way, as of now, our college does not have any post graduate course. and neither we would be eligible for other university's PG course till the MCI recognizes our mbbs first."
"damn! we are trapped "
for me, at that time, just to be a doctor was the goal and post graduation meant nothing. i wanted to be a doctor and that would be served even if i was only an mbbs doctor. but to remain only 12 pass after five and half years blood sucking course? leave me, any one would commit suicide !
thus the waves of depression remained under current. the discussion was not limited to our campus. it gradually came to be a social stigmata. the people around us when asked about our study, we proudly would tell them about our gorgeous medical college. after listening everything, they would say " okay, so, PSMC ! is that your college? that unrecognized one no?" and would add " so what are your plans with such a degree?"
we frankly had no answer to such life questions except to keep mum and feel depressed. some one would feel pity on us while some one would say some words of hope. some times even parents of my friends got frustrated because of such discussions around them.
once, out of such frustration, we went to meet dr haridas, hardly knowing his technical position. he was the head of the department of biochemistry. he was living in a bungalow near the main entrance of the college. he greeted us with a big smile.
"come...welcome..."
" sir what will happen to our recognition?" we asked in panic.
" i hope soon it would be resolved" said he with wishful thinking. "all are trying their best. we hope to clear the inspection next time." our tender and innocent minds listened to him as if we were listening to the head of the MCI assuring us!
" and sir, what about our post graduation? our college does not have such courses."
" in that case, government may ask the other colleges to keep five five seats for our students in each of the medical colleges."
"wow! can this really happen?" sir showed us our day dream.
"may be.. let us hope so.."
though, sir, out of sympathy, showed us a day dream, we all believed in him and went away to our hostel room and slept nicely that night! the reality was far away from what he said and we were not knowing what challenges we would face in future.
our batch was probably were fourth in a row since the admissions started at the PSMC. the first batch was soon to go for the exams and we were waiting eagerly to see what happened to them.one day, some one said the team of inspectors from the MCI was to come to inspect our college. they were to ascertain the facilities at the college. their duty was to make our education a quality education by forcing the college authorities to provide minimum needed facilities.
the atmosphere of the campus became charged with buzz of issue of recognition. what facilities did our college have at that time? briefly, the college building was already like a new bride. the hospital was functioning since a few years more than the year of start of the college. our college had a vast campus, big and well designed building for running not only all the needed departments but also a good library and indoor sports facilities for the students. ( not mentioning dark corners and open huge terraces essential for lovers and official couples!).
our library was studded with big big cupboards stuffed with thick and horrible medical books. the journal section was rich with probably all possible uninteresting books subscribed from world over.
. we had a huge play ground surrounded by eucalypti trees on one side and mango trees on the other.same way, we had rainbow of teachers in each of the departments starting from head to tails. the labs had adequate equipment and experts of the subjects. all the teachers of the 1st mbbs were full timers. looking at all these, we felt, how any inspector could deny us recognition? what was lacking then?
even if being students of first mbbs, we used to go to the hospital sometimes just out of curiosity. our shri krishna hospital was a big hospital with all the major departments functioning with full time staff. the hospital had different wards. but that is where we saw the problem.since ours was a rural medical college away from any populated city, the patient turn over of our hospital was low. we used to see hardly a few patients admitted in wards.to be a good doctor, a medical student ought to be exposed to large number of patients.
when the dates approached, the college authorities started organizing health check up camps in near by villages and poured indoor patients in our hollow empty hospital wards to make up the needed number of patients ! we saw buses coming in our campus bringing people for admissions. god only could say how many of them were real patients! our wards looked like hospital wards first time ever since we joined.
i do not remember seeing the most wanted and still probably most disliked inspectors from the MCI but i do remember how depressed we felt when the news of denial of recognition arrived in the campus after few days of interval after the inspection.
there were different versions to explain. some people said, since h.m. patel was an honest man, he refused any favor to the inspectors and their bosses. some one said, dr ketan desai, the president of the MCI, had some personal account to be settled with one of our senior professor. there were so many theories.hardly a few believed our college really lacked the facilities.
this was just start of the torture. we had to face the inspection by the MCI almost every year. plight of a student working hard in such an unrecognized institute can be understood only by his or her fellow students.
