Astha Hemant @timesgroup.com
T he academic calendar for the current batch of undergraduate (UG) medical students (2021 22) will be three months shorter, due to the delay in admissions this year An official announcement by the Na tional Medical Commission (NMC) states that the academic session for MBBS Swill begin in February 2022 and conclude in June 2027, including the compulsory internship. Faculty and students express concerns but hail this as an unavoidable decision.
Difficult path ahead
Dr PK Gupta, professor of Medicine, Subharti Institute of Medical Scien ces, Uttar Pradesh, says this decision will affect the foundational learning of UG students. "The first year MBBS students are trained in Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry, all of which have an extensive sylla eing familiar bus. Initially, getting with medical terminology ta kes time and if a student is pla ced in a city other than his/ her hometown, adjusting to the environment also takes time," he says.
Relaxation time needed
The NMC notification also states, Foundation course
will be covered after usual teaching hours or on weekends/holidays. Va cations have also been curtailed du ring first, second and third professio nals by one month."
Dr Amisha Maroo, who is currently doing her internship at AIIMS, New Delhi, says, "The first year of MBBS is the time when students participate in college societies and form interperso nal relationships that will be their sup port system throughout their medical journey. Eating into students' relaxa tion time may lead to bigger issues of
Revised timetable needs to focus on must-know areas that all students must attend in-person
mental and physical health."
At most medical colleges, the first- year schedule is from 9-5, she adds. "Generally, students take a break till dinner before heading back to their books for revision, homework, and as- signments. Without this break, stu- dents are bound to get exhausted, colleges. says Maroo. Further, outstation stu says dents utilise the weekends to visit the ir families while small groups may ta ke short trips to recharge. Thus, doing away with weekends might not be such a good idea, she tells.
Possible ways forward
The path ahead will be challenging for both faculty and students, says Dr Z Zayapragassarazan, professor & he- ad, Department of Medical Education, JIPMER, Puducherry. "While stu dents can still be guided as as per the new schedule, faculty will face a to- ugh time in ensuring quality delivery in the revised time of the course in frame. While online classes during the pandemic posed the issue ofle- aming loss, this change will add to the problem if correct measu- res are not taken," he tells.
The revised timetable needs to focus on must-know areas that should be made compulsory for all stu dents to attend in-person, adds Zaya pragassarazan. "Majority of the sub ject areas covered here can be inclu ded in the exams. Students can be given the freedom to attend the remai ning courses in a hybrid or online mo de or they can even self-learn," he tells. Accordingly, changes can be ma de to the timetable as well, adds Zaya pragassarazan. "One hour of extra lec tures can be added to the schedule da ily. Also, Saturdays can be made com pulsory working days across medical This will help align the extra courses," he adds.
Issue for all
Dr Kriti Nausaran, second year PG student, Maulana Azad Medical Col lege, New Delhi, says that the issue of time crunch is being faced by all stu dents. "My promotion to second year was due in July 2021. Due to the pan demic, the promotion happened in February 2022. Thus, the batch has missed out on seven months of trai ning and and learning. We are now wor king overtime to ensure that we fill the learning gap within the stipula ted time frame," she tells.
While the decision will be stressful for students, they must buckle up. "The larger picture says that this will help the ensuing batches as well as the timeframe for their own medical education journey, so rather than be stressed, they need to start working extra hard," she tells.
Published on :- Time of India
Date :- 14/02/2022
