- Arun Sharma
“The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”
– Voltaire
Medicine is the science and art of healing. The beauty of a medical degree is it makes you able to save millions of lives and be an inspiration for millions of people.
To get enrolled for MBBS (in context of Nepal), one should pass the entrance examination held by Institute of Medicine or Kathmandu University School of Medical Science or BP Koirala Institute of Health Science or Patan Academy of Health Science after completing his/her high school level education. The course duration of undergraduate program (MBBS) is 5.5 years. Then the candidate has to pass the license examination of Nepal Medical Council. But the result of recent NMCLE shows that out of 776 candidates, only 189 have managed to pass. That brings the pass percentage somewhere close to 25%.
Medical science demands your keenest attention and a great devotion on studies while pursuing the degree whereas through knowledge on the subject and extreme competency during the practice. This can only be achieved at the expense of an unwavering focus, many sleepless nights of hard work and study and a blazing desire of performing something worth remembering by generations yet to be born!
Though knowledge, experiences and information shapes the nature of human awareness but a significant portion of it is indeed shaped by the society he dwells in. We are socially programmed to believe an idea as truth if a significant portion of people in the community are believing it as truth.
Being a doctor is solely accepted as the definition of success in the contemporary society of ours’. By the age of 7/8 years, a child has dream of becoming astronaut, scientist, musician, artist and many more. By the end of secondary education, he decides to study science. By the end of high school, his first priority is medicine (for majority) either motivated by the desire to earn or for the satisfaction of ‘Great dream of every Nepali parents ‘. But you cannot afford to climb the ladder of success only to realize, when you get to the top, the ladder has been leaning against the wrong wall! However, this situation does not apply to all. Some are truly motivated by the instincts of performing noble deeds and serving people in the best way possible.
The Bhagavad Gita: Chapter-18; Verse-47
śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣhṭhitāt
svabhāva-niyataṁ karma kurvan nāpnoti kilbiṣham
“It is better to do one’s own work, even though imperfectly, than to do another’s work, even though perfectly. By doing one’s innate duties, a person does not incur sin.” Innate duties are the ones that a person was born for. A subtle voice speaks from the inside, people do feel a calling for something but they ignore it and choose to do the things that are popularly being done by majority of people. Think for a moment, what if Bill Gates was a doctor and Dr. Upendra Devkota, a programmer? Will they be equally successful as they are now? The answer is, “No!”. We all are blessed with something very special and our duty is to sharpen that skill.
In a nutshell, it can be stated that one should not pursue medical career for the mere shake of prestige and money that makes him blind towards his moral duties but should pursue it only if he is truly interested in serving people even in his/her most difficult times.
