A Medical Student's Research Conference... sounds pretty boring right? But it is very much the opposite.
Last year when I applied to ICMR (the council that promotes and encourages clinical research among students), it was basically to get more time in the clinics. MBBS second year with its dry subjects (pharmacology for instance) pretty much made me quit medicine. The end of the exams and I really wanted to get out of the monotonous ‘posting-and-lecture’ schedules. I didn’t know then that a paediatrics project would be so hectic and time-consuming. My entire summer vacations plus loads of posting time were spent in the project. It did give me good results, I learnt more in those 4-5 months of project than I did otherwise (I am not a person who picks up a book and studies, it has to be somebody or the other teaching me- I still don’t know how I ended up in this field where you have to be self taught!) Then came third year exams and my project submission. Again, I got bugged up by everything, so much so that I didn’t realise that my project results were 'not bad' for it being a phase I study (not going into the details of it). This is when I realised that I work best only under pressure. Going retrospective, I have always just met my deadlines. And even since then, it is always work for days continuously without any sleep just before submission time.
Anyways, coming to Medicon, I didn’t know there were so many like-minded medical students in India who were genuinely interested in researching and in MBBS per-se (unlike me I must say, I researched to escape the feeling of being in MBBS). But, yeah seeing hundreds of students from different parts of the country was an amazing experience. Also, the world is a small place, a really small place- for half the people it was like “Oh! I have seen you somewhere, probably my school, no my coaching, no wait you are my friend’s friend or maybe not, but the bottom-line is I think I know you!”. Then coming to the actual conference part, there was Dr. Vinay Kumar (THE Dr. Vinay), the one who wrote Robbins Textbook of Pathology (almost all med-students across the world read it, and most love it.) He is one person who has gone places with his intellect and passion for science and research. And yet he is so grounded, so sweet and so encouraging. Meeting doctors like Dr. Shobha, who set aside their ‘born with a silver spoon’ lifestyles to help the underprivileged in difficult situations of emergency and war, really inspires us to do something for the country, for the world, to give back something. As of now, I cannot help anyone until I know what I am doing. So, her passion has inspired me really focus hard and study in a way I can apply things, not in a way I can pass MBBS. Here comes the best part- meeting new friends. They made the entire journey memorable. People sometimes go out of their way to help you, and that is what proves that the world is still a humanitarian place. I am jealous that I wasn’t in first year or something when I did my project, it would have given me more exposure for further options. But, as they say- ‘it’s never too late’. The conference also gave some sort of boost to my otherwise low self-esteem. I liked what I had done. And for once, I like what I am doing!
P.S- People going to Coimbatore, keep some full days free for exploring the beautiful places there (Ooty, Munnar, Kochi)....
