AMRUT HIRULAL BASAVA's Review On Karnataka Institute Of Medical Sciences - [KIMS], Hubli

The college administration has got mixed reviews. There were scandals and bad events associated with our college. For instance, the "shootout incidence in 2007-08", "some muslim senior students involved in terrorism", "suicidal attempt by student" etc. were among the bad remarks I recall about our college and management.

The learning syllabus through MBBS course curriculum was systematic as per the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore. The teaching staff was well-qualified, and the fellow students were among the most competitive cohort. The structure of theoretical and practical learning was excellent. There was a good clinical exposure. Main examinations were undertaken during phase I, phase II, phase III - part I & II. Quarterly internal assessment examinations were also held to keep our academics on-track. The duration of course was 5.5 years. Overall, a great academic foundation for medical carreer was laid at KIMS.

After completing MBBS Phase III-part II examination, we had 1 year of Internship. We were called as "Interns" or "House-surgeons", and posted into various medical departments as per the schedule. Internship was the time when we actually felt we were doctors, with the spark of pride and enthusiasm for practice. We were informally "doctors" because we still did not have the degree with us, but we earned good monthly stipends (Rs 15000) for our duties. With the scope of working in different departments, we get an idea about our preferred specialty. I was interested in surgical field.

Cultural events in our college went hand-in-hand with our academics. Although sports, literary, kannada sangha, etc were integral part of our course, I was personally more involved in cultural events. Every year there was annual intra-collegiate cultural fest named "Kalaspandana", and inter-collegiate fest named "Manthan". Various events were carried out: singing, dancing (spot/solo/duet/group), miming, drama, skit, quiz, treasure hunt, dumb-charades, antakshari, musical band, painting, and what not. There were enthusistic participants actively involved in the events. During the 3rd year of MBBS, the batch forms the "Student's association" which takes incharge of the events. Our batch "Intaglios" (2007-2012) was the golden jubilee batch (50th batch) of KIMS, hence we made sure that all the events were conducted in a best possible way.

The fee-structure for MBBS course is very much reasonable and nominal at KIMS (government setup) compared to SDM (private setup). During admission, the initial fees was paid at the Karnataka CET cell and remaining fees at KIMS. There was transparency in the fee-breakdown, as noted in the bill. The overall admission fees was approximately Rs 20-30k. Thereafter, every year the fees was around Rs 15-20k till the final year. During internship, we were actually paid a stipend of Rs 15k monthly.

I did not opt for any scholarship or education loan for my MBBS course. However, I am undertaking PhD course in Medical Research from Texila American University on scholarship basis, and have availed loan for the course.

KIMS campus life can be aptly summed up as "those were the best days of my life". Those were the days when I experienced friendships, love, competition, compassion, freedom, and passion. The gender ratio was almost 1:1, and I personally used to hang around with both male and female friends. Although there were arbitrary groups in our batch - northies, southies, hostelites, localites, gulbarga gang, and so on; I considered myself an omnipotent member of all the groups, and had friendly social relations with all of them. I never discriminated among my batchmates, and also I used to be friendly & jovial with seniors and juniors alike. I was not involved in sports and debates, but I was active in extracurricular activities especially dancing. Be it a group dance, duet dance or spot dance, we made sure it served the best entertainment to the audience. Our performance never failed to fetch a huge applause and appreciation. Another thing worth mentioning is "Team CHF", which was the entertainement masala to every event of our college. About batch politics, we had high-time political play during our student's organization. Overall, the events made the campus life beautiful, colorful and memorable lifetime experience to cherish.

I was a day-scholar as my home was nearby KIMS. Although I did not opt for hostel, I used to go there frequently to have a good time with my colleagues, seniors, juniors, and other friends. The basic facilities of hostel rooms were average and the mess was good enough.

College seniors were initially bullying, as ragging was very common those days. But ragging had its own pros and cons. While at one extreme, we were faced with the most embarrassing situations by our seniors, at the other end we became close and connected with them later on, which helped in our academics. Seniors used to guide during examinations, and helped in our studies. Some super seniors or alumni were also friendly and helpful, whenever needed. Our "Intaglio" batch holds a special position in being a golden jubilee batch, I feel proud of it as an alumni.

I always wanted to become a doctor since childhood. I had a decent entrance ranking (Karnataka CET) for which i got a seat in SDM medical college, Dharwad. During re-counselling, I was lucky enough to get a merit seat in KIMS, Hubli during july/august, 2007. The additional course fees from SDM (private) college was refunded to me. Before my admission into KIMS, the initial fees was paid at the KCET cell at Bangalore after getting seat allotted during counselling. Then I had to submit my documents at KIMS, Hubli along with additional college fees. I don't remember the exact course fees, but i guess it was around 20-30k. With the difference amount of savings by changing my seat from SDM to KIMS, I could buy myself a brand new bike - TVS Apache RTR 160.

I don't remember the tentative number of lecturers throughout the MBBS course, but I can say that the faculty was on par qualitatively and quantitatively. Each department had an HOD, Associate and Assistant professors and residents as teaching staff. Although the non-teaching staff played an important role too. I would like to mention some of my favourite lecturers: Dr. Gurushantappa Y from surgery department, Dr. Hemalatha am from OBG, Dr. Sachin Hoskatti from medicine dept, Dr. Gadag from ENT, Dr. G. Mithra from PSM, etc.