Review of a Medical College in West Bengal

Overall, our college is a mix of both positives and negatives. The fees are good, the variety of clinical cases that we get to witness is very high, overall hands on experience during internship is substantial. However, overburdened students and interns, disinterested faculty and lack of scope in extra curriculars and research oriented programs are what's lacking in our, otherwise esteemed college.

Course curriculum comprises of 4 academic years, divided into 3 parts: 3 Pre clinical subjects (1st and 2nd semester), 4 para clinical subjects (3rd to 5th semester) and 11 clinical subjects (5th to 9th semester). At the end of each part, there is a final university exam held by WBUHS, which decides whether a student can advance to the next part. Clinical parts have 2 such examinations. At the end of the course, there is a compulsory internship of one year, almost always within the hospital itself.

Since it is a Medical College, one year internship in the various wards and OPDs of the hospital is mandatory for all. After that, MBBS degree is provided and the Dr. can officially apply for any private and public hospital, with relatively very high rates of recruitment. Overall experience of internship is extremely tiring. Since it is the busiest government hospital in West Bengal, the workload during internship is immense (90+ hrs a week is common), even more so during the holiday season. Every day, interns handle atleast 100-200 patients, depending on the department. We receive a stipend of ?23,000/month.

There are very few extra curricular events in our college. There is our annual cultural fest, and the fresher's welcome. However that is mostly it. The fest is the keystone event of our college. it is a five day event, where guest artists from art, dance, drama, music, comedians and other fields perform, but mainly the students showcase their talents which remain suppressed most of the year due to academic workload. Most of the events in our college are academic in nature, comprising of seminars, quizzes, clinical case presentation, etc. They are educative in nature and presents information about the latest research in the medical field.

Since it is a state govt run medical college, the fees of the college is rather cheap. For each semester, we are charged around ?5000. However, most of the expense occurs due to buying study materials (books, online lectures, etc) and other paraphernalia.

Since it is a state government run medical college, fees are relatively pretty low and even those who are financially disadvantaged can also study without bothering much about student loans. There are a few scholarships, but those are very obscure and not many are aware of this.

Since this is an MBBS degree, it is extremely academics oriented. That, combined with the space constraints of the campus, extracurricular activities are not that central a part of the students' lives. However, there is a very decent sized field, where sports are played, especially during winter. A few times, even sports events have been organised. Extra curriculars are mostly pursued by the students themselves as hobbies and the college takes mostly no role in nurturing them. As for labs, much of the equipment is obsolete (especially for the non clinical subjects) and are hardly functioning. However, clinical laboratories (non academic/diagnostic) are well equipped.

There are quite a few hostels within the campus, depending on gender and education level (grad/post grad/resident doctors/nurses/paramedical staff, etc). However, there is severe space constraint as the hospital is located in Sealdah, the most crowded part of Kolkata.

An alumni network does exist in NRS. However, it is not very strong as in other eminent institutes. Alumni meets are not that common, atleast not within the college campus. The senior-junior relationship in this college is overall quite smooth. Ragging is not tolerated at all, and the incidence of ragging is extremely low in this college. Seniors are very helpful, especially for academics.

Had to sit for NEET-UG entrance examination. After publishing rank, we had to fill our choice for online counselling (3 rounds and a mop up round usually). Before actual admission, there was a round of document verification, where 12th std marksheet, birth certificate, rank letter and document for identification where verified. Then during admission process, these verified documents were checked, marksheets were taken by them and various legal bonds were signed. Various forms had to be filled out during this admission process. Overall it was quite hassle free.

Majority comprises of teachers who do not put in the required efforts, or are interested in teaching. Most of them have either other jobs to do or are just there to make money. However few teachers (more so in the clinical subjects) are really good teachers and they take genuine interest in teaching.