Last but not least…

By Akanksha Mahajan (Final year MBBS, Government Medical College, Amritsar)

I am sure that all the writers who worked on this edition must have found the journey to the world of the medicine of their dreams quite mesmerising. But unfortunately, we don’t know how long it will take this dream to turn into a reality. So, what can we do until then? Sit back, wait and watch, or let it go and lament over it or keep ranting on and on?

Before you make a decision, I have another question for you to think about. Let’s assume that our dream medical curriculum comes to life, how many amongst us and our colleagues would be okay with all those added subjects in our curriculum? Well, unfortunately, for some, it will literally be just another subject to mug up….

I need you to ask yourself, “is that what I truly want or I just felt like daydreaming about it because it seemed fun?” So, if you have got your answer and you know that this is what you truly want, and you just really want to be a “doctor” not just another “clinician”; then I have some little bits and pieces of suggestions for you that you might feel like considering.

I believe that the first and foremost quality that we all wish to acquire as medicos is to be good at communicating with our patients, being able to exhibit empathy towards them despite all sorts of differences, and being able to exhibit respect towards them. Yes, this is definitely not something any of our professors talk about, but how about attempting to pave at least a little road here? Next time, you visit a ward and you feel like not being good enough at establishing a rapport with the patient, ask, ask, and ask your professors, junior residents, anyone, and everyone. Take as many pointers, some of them will obviously shush you but there is definitely a 100% possibility of finding someone who will try to help you out. This is an area where no one can ever be good enough, but for now, let’s try to gather as many points from the experiences of others.

As far as inclusivity is concerned, we have numerous resources to learn from in today’s era. We literally carry the world in our pockets. There are numerous NGOs one can get connected with, NGOs for people with special needs, NGOs for the queer community, etc., we can try to get in contact with them and we can always volunteer with them and acquire their pearls of wisdom that help them work towards the cause they represent. This is a simple yet fulfilling way to be better because NGOs are usually open for volunteers, you will learn and at the same time, you will get opportunities to apply those learnings. In fact, you will learn to be more empathetic and compassionate as you continue.

Other than this, you can always look up experts such as special educators, queer affirmative therapists, etc., and contact them if they can help you in any way through resources, workshops, etc. This may not be feasible enough but you never know, it’s always good to try out your fortune(;D).

These steps also hold true for everything else in your dream curriculum.

Lastly, keep learning, don’t forget to teach and teach, and make sure to keep practicing all that you preach!

It’s rightly said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world!” Let’s embrace these words with our heart and head. We might not reach the stars but we have a great chance of touching the moon. 

It will obviously be great to have a curriculum where we have everything that we wish to learn, spoonfed to us but what if our hard-earned skills might end up tasting better and we get to transform our nation’s medical curriculum for real someday…?

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