Being a good medical teacher was my life's ambition I had seen a few dedicated teachers during my MBBS days. I recognised the efforts they put in ; the sacrifice they made and the devotion with which they imparted the knowledge. I did not have to look far. I had zeroed in n my career.
The day I passed my MD, I applied for the job - Lecturer in Medicine. I was greatly disappointed to know that there were no immediate vacancies. I joined a hospital and patiently waited for the vacancy to arise. While working there, I developed interesting in collecting clinical materials - case details, X rays,
ECG s etc which were very helpful later as teaching aids and for the books I wrote. I also developed a habit of referring to the books and journals.
The golden day came on 17 February 1982 when I joined a medical college as a Lecturer. I went with a new apron; new shirt, and armed with knowledge, capped with pride and arrogance (born out of knowledge). Initial years of ones career are 'power driven' - you 'know' everything. From the knowledge stems arrogance and from that comes a dynamic performance. There are only 2 zones - black and white.
I was ready for my first clinics.
What followed was unimaginable - the senior students had already attended a clinic by my chief (Dr. KP Ganesan) and left. 4 students were curiously looking at me. They said they were repeaters. There were no organised classes for repeaters. They wondered whether I could teach them. I had taught such students as an intern and as a PG student. I agreed immediately. I took the class well. They liked it. I was extremely happy. I still remember the names of 2 students - Bipin Patel who later become a Physician in the US and did very well for himself. The other one was one Sandra. For the next 2 months I took clinics for them regularly and all 4 passed (the pass percentage then was 30%). I was thrilled.
I have taught many batches of UG s and PG s after that. I enjoy using the black board for the theory classes. There has been innovation and modernization in teaching. Power point presentations have replaced blackboards. I personally feel that the audiovisual aids like power points impart uniformity. They extend mediocracy. Basically it is an exercise in trasferring image(and not necessarily knowledge) from the teacher to the taught without either one essentially understanding or mastering the topic. A black board is like an empty canvas. It gives immense scope for the teacher to evolve the subject and develop the concept. It is an exercise in transfer of knowledge with a better understanding by both - the teacher and the student.
The salary of a teacher was unimaginable when I joined. I took home a princely salary of Rs. 250. Daily wage unskilled laborers earned more. Then it was a matter of pride to be a teacher. To survive one had to practice. That is how and why I practiced. Even now my first and only love is teaching. Practice is incidental requirement which I never really fell in love with except the fact that I met people and I enjoyed interacting with them.
One or two things have concerned me. Till recently there was no formal training for teachers who teach at highest level -MBBS, MD, DM, Phd. etc. Also no emphasis is given to the 2 major requirements in any field - communication and decision making. Innate skills of communication have to be honed. Decision should be made on rational thinking and common sense rather than using guidelines and protocols alone.
The later part of one's career is passion driven. One is aware that there is a grey zone( in addition to the back and white ) and many things belong there. One humbly accepts the fact that one could be wrong or more importantly, the other person could be right. Arrogance born out of knowledge (of the early phase of the profession ) is replaced by humility born out wisdom in the later phase of the profession.
Probably I am now in the 'passion driven' phase of the profession. I travel far and wide on invitation to take classes and teach PG s and doctors at many CME s.
I want to emphasize one important point. A good professional remains a student and a teacher all his life.
One need not necessarily have an attachment to a medical college to be a teacher. Teaching any one else at the work including junior doctors, colleagues, even the patients (patient education) makes one a teacher. What is important is to perform the task well and not the title.
Looking back, I have no regrets.However, the satisfaction obtained by teaching the repeaters and the so called back benchers (who really need us and our skills) was infinitely more than that obtained the day I received my 'good teacher award'.
The day I passed my MD, I applied for the job - Lecturer in Medicine. I was greatly disappointed to know that there were no immediate vacancies. I joined a hospital and patiently waited for the vacancy to arise. While working there, I developed interesting in collecting clinical materials - case details, X rays,
ECG s etc which were very helpful later as teaching aids and for the books I wrote. I also developed a habit of referring to the books and journals.
The golden day came on 17 February 1982 when I joined a medical college as a Lecturer. I went with a new apron; new shirt, and armed with knowledge, capped with pride and arrogance (born out of knowledge). Initial years of ones career are 'power driven' - you 'know' everything. From the knowledge stems arrogance and from that comes a dynamic performance. There are only 2 zones - black and white.
I was ready for my first clinics.
What followed was unimaginable - the senior students had already attended a clinic by my chief (Dr. KP Ganesan) and left. 4 students were curiously looking at me. They said they were repeaters. There were no organised classes for repeaters. They wondered whether I could teach them. I had taught such students as an intern and as a PG student. I agreed immediately. I took the class well. They liked it. I was extremely happy. I still remember the names of 2 students - Bipin Patel who later become a Physician in the US and did very well for himself. The other one was one Sandra. For the next 2 months I took clinics for them regularly and all 4 passed (the pass percentage then was 30%). I was thrilled.
I have taught many batches of UG s and PG s after that. I enjoy using the black board for the theory classes. There has been innovation and modernization in teaching. Power point presentations have replaced blackboards. I personally feel that the audiovisual aids like power points impart uniformity. They extend mediocracy. Basically it is an exercise in trasferring image(and not necessarily knowledge) from the teacher to the taught without either one essentially understanding or mastering the topic. A black board is like an empty canvas. It gives immense scope for the teacher to evolve the subject and develop the concept. It is an exercise in transfer of knowledge with a better understanding by both - the teacher and the student.
The salary of a teacher was unimaginable when I joined. I took home a princely salary of Rs. 250. Daily wage unskilled laborers earned more. Then it was a matter of pride to be a teacher. To survive one had to practice. That is how and why I practiced. Even now my first and only love is teaching. Practice is incidental requirement which I never really fell in love with except the fact that I met people and I enjoyed interacting with them.
One or two things have concerned me. Till recently there was no formal training for teachers who teach at highest level -MBBS, MD, DM, Phd. etc. Also no emphasis is given to the 2 major requirements in any field - communication and decision making. Innate skills of communication have to be honed. Decision should be made on rational thinking and common sense rather than using guidelines and protocols alone.
The later part of one's career is passion driven. One is aware that there is a grey zone( in addition to the back and white ) and many things belong there. One humbly accepts the fact that one could be wrong or more importantly, the other person could be right. Arrogance born out of knowledge (of the early phase of the profession ) is replaced by humility born out wisdom in the later phase of the profession.
Probably I am now in the 'passion driven' phase of the profession. I travel far and wide on invitation to take classes and teach PG s and doctors at many CME s.
I want to emphasize one important point. A good professional remains a student and a teacher all his life.
One need not necessarily have an attachment to a medical college to be a teacher. Teaching any one else at the work including junior doctors, colleagues, even the patients (patient education) makes one a teacher. What is important is to perform the task well and not the title.
Looking back, I have no regrets.However, the satisfaction obtained by teaching the repeaters and the so called back benchers (who really need us and our skills) was infinitely more than that obtained the day I received my 'good teacher award'.
Like many senior teachers those days ,though junior at that time , You were also very popular among students. We remember attending special sunday classes by you on Cardiovascular System. The Classes were really helpful to us.Those were the days when clinical Medicine was the supreme.... No echo.... May be ECG at times... Murmurs ruled the world.... Thank You Sir for all the Knowledge and wisdom you shared and still moulding the budding Doctors in to good Clinicians .....
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