Dr Bertha Rathinam,
Professor and Head,
Dept. of Anatomy,
AIIMS, Bhopal.
“I remember the very first day of my medical college. After months of hitting the books, living and breathing entrance preparations,…finally cracking the same to get admission in a medical college…….what a journey it has been! But, nothing had prepared me for the dissection laboratory, formalin tears, wet and smelly specimens, testing urine and blood, and staring into the microscopes for long hours trying to imagine the various pink and blue hues as liver or muscle. I was literally reeling under the burden of huge text books, overload of information and boring didactic lectures. I began to have doubts….”.
A few months down the lane, an announcement for an integrated lecture was put up. It only added to my ennui. We had another laboratory ritual of testing the urine for bile salts and pigments. After that we were taken to the hospital through cold and dark corridors, beeps of the various machines, that unique stench of the hospital, to finally meet with Mr X. Its not about the yellowed conjunctiva, the high coloured urine sample of the patient, but listening to the story of how he contacted hepatitis, the experience of interacting with his wife, the bedside teaching of my professor and the learning from the patient. Yes, it made me understand that it is not the top-notch degree program, but hospital is the epicenter of my learning, and patient my best teacher. All the boredom flew away and a new impetus was restored.
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