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THE JUNIOR DOCTOR

I woke up this morning to the very reassuring news that govt MBBS doctors in Karnataka are to see a salary hike , and it will now see them cashing in on 60K a month!!

Yayy that's great news for my clan! And even more so for "MY CLAN" i.e. all those fresh MBBS graduates (read #babydocs, #jrdocs, #jrs) at the mercy of mankind, coursing through all of Dante's hells to arrive at the ultimate prize ... a PG seat!
( associated perks : fulfilled ambition, reinstilled sense of self worth, a job and a salary, recognition, a SPOUSE!!!, ... and I've also heard whispered in some corners 'Happiness!!')

And so as we course through this phantasmic journey, unmindful of the endless night duties, the thesis terrors, the next quest for DM/Mch and other what nots that will follow in the post PG life...!

As the rest of the world scales great heights ( specifically with regards to their bank accounts), we trudge along the dreary path where exams are mile stones and any, ANY, known pleasure is a potent stumbling stone, akin to that dreaded Snake on 99 that can barf you all the way back down to 0 on the game board :\

The journey is a thankless toil, a bootcamp, a nightmare all combined and magnified a hundred times...
You think I'm exaggerating , well here's an insight;
At ages 23-26 heres what "My Clan" is doing:
8am to 8pm reading and re reading all that was taught over a span of 5 and 1/2 years .. which is actually an amalgamation of everything that manking learnt from Hippocrates'(the Father Of Medicine) era to what the NEJM (or for that matter some other journal in some far corner of the world ) published as of this morning!.. this Ladies and Gentlemen is what comprises our"COURSE SYLLABUS"!

A far far cry from the happening lives of our peers! #nonexistentSocialLife
But hey, saving lives is no easy feat eh?!?
But yes none of us look as 'fab' trying to do so a la Jackson Avery...

That said Greys Anatomy has made this profession of ours more glamourous in the eyes of the lay man. Then again, the very famous 'On Call Room' of Sloan-Grey Memorial is not a reality in our day to day lives, nor do we run into a McDreamy or a McSteamy very often !!!( two questions absolutely everyone asks me when they realize I watch Greys)
Unfortunately Shonda doesn't script our day to days!

And as the rest of the world breaks new barriers, we are further bound and tied down by new legislations, malpractice insurances, bonds,QUOTAS, licenciating exams and the lot!
All as we try to follow our passion to learn more about this magnificent machine, the human body!

Yes, the general public is very distrustful of doctors, and definitely I accept not without reason , there are a fair number (that I've seen in my very short career thus far) who are in it for reasons that they shouldn't, and hence the apprehension is understandable. But by and large, there is a vast majority who are truly passionate and work very hard day and night! #truePassion

Yes eventually we might be able to afford that all elusive BMW #loveTheBMW , but that's after spending a good part of our twenties being largely broke (and perennially hungry) ;) ... #by2Coffee

And thus we work our way through countless books, solely focusing our attentions on Messrs. Harrison, Bailey and Robbins , adding 'dysdiadokokinesia' to our vocabulary, learning the 'idiosyncrasies' of life, and fighting the every day battle against- '5 and 1/2 years to become a hard core cynic'  (as a popular daily newspaper termed the MBBS course ), all because we will one day learn enough to qualify as 'good doctors' and serve the society.
 All because we truly love what we do!










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