Doctors and managers

This is basically a rant that's been building up for a long time. The precipitating event for me to vent it out now was my discovery that this raw rookie of a girl- she must be all of 22-23- is drawing twice as much pay as me. She's an MBA (I think...she's in HR anyway) and I'm an MBBS with 7 yrs. experience.

In the early days of my using the net, when I still had time to visit chatrooms, I ran into Preeti, who'd just flunked her 2nd attaempt at getting into medicine. I was preparing for UPSC exams while doing my internship, and told her she ought to thank her lucky stars she's been spared the drudgery that constitutes a life in medicine. Sure enough, she changed tracks, switched to Psychology, swept all the medals her univ had to offer, and promptly went onto the MBA track, and has recently bagged the best campus placement- even before her last semester's over. (Incidentally, this stranger I met on the web turned out to be the cousin of a friend from school- but these weird coincidences will be the stuff of a different entry). And while its taken me 7 yrs to breach the 20 k barrier, she's starting out at thrice my pay.

Obviously, I have nothing against Preeti herself. I'm sort of proud of her and even have a hint of vicarious thrill in her achievement. My issue is with the status of doctors vs managers.

After passing out from college, I was clueless about what I wanted to do, but I was pretty certain that clinical practice wan't for me. More to please my dad than anything else, seeing as how his face lit up when I casually mentioned the civil services as a possible career option, I decided I'd take the UPSC exam and see how it goes. If nothing else, it gave me the means to pick up the basics of 2 subjects I'd wanted to learn more about- I chose Psychology and Anthropology as my electives. While I did the mandatory rotations in the General Hospital, Hisar as an intern, I was reading stuff completely different from what my fellow interns were reading- the average intern's life consists of back-breaking labor, interspersed with studying as much as (s)he can for the upcoming PG entrance exams.

I'm told the average attempts for any MBBS to get a PG seat is 3. For 3 years, a doctor is either working at a pittance as "resident medical officer" at some private clinic or the other, and slogging his/her bum off to prepare for an examination, the syllabus for which includes biochemistry- absurd and irrelevant to an iny doctor not geared towards research- and believe me, most aren't. I have a friemd who's just flunked his 4th attempt- he's now resigned to life as a lowly MBBS, condemning him to low wages and unspoken contempt from his peers.

As for my IAS aspirations, I wasn't particularly driven to a lifetime of babu-dom; and 6 mnths before the prelim exams, my maternal uncle gifted me with a PC, thereby introducing me to cyberia. The exam preparations went for a toss, and I greedily discovered the joys of free information delivered to one's chair, even in a place like Hisar. Obviously, I flunked the UPSC exam, having quit the idea of persuing that line. But pertinently, every single doctor I spoke to while I was supposedly abandoning the medical line, was fervently in favor of my decision. All of them unanimously agreed that being a doctor is pretty pathetic- the rewards are disproportionately miniscule, relative to one's input. Well, there were detractors- my parents' social circle, consisting of other medicos in Hisar who'd built their nursing homes and were all grooming their sons to take over the mantle. Their query, like a stuck record, was repeated at every occasion for interaction- "Beta, yeh jo hospital papa ne banaaya hai, iska kya hoga?" Their mindsets precluded any other lifeplan for me- the very concept that I might not want to take up an established nursing home, and one of the oldest and most respected ones in the town at that, was beyond their mental horizons. And I have to admit that there'd be hordes of young medicos who'd give anything to trade places with me.

While still wondering what to do with the rest of my life, I tagged along with my folks to a guided package tour of Europe. Something or the other- probably the sight of Asians doing the menial jobs everywhere- subconsciously triggered a decision that I ought not to waste a degree that was hard-earned. So... I decided I'd revert to the mainstream, and duly started preparing for the PG exam which was 3 months away. Knowing the scene, there was no hope in hell of my getting through- I was competing with junta who'd been at it for 2-3 yrs. full-time- I nevertheless, gave it a shot.

On the eve of the exam, a TV channel broke news that the paper had been leaked and the perpetrators (at least 2 of innumerable others) had been apprehended, but the exam was conducted as scheduled. Among the candidates, there was major babbling- the exam would be declared null, it'd be rescheduled, there was another chance. Yippee! When nothing of the kind happend, and results were declared- and shown to be blatantly skewed- 6 of the top 10 positions were from one college- there was another angry uproar. They made online forums, asked for donations to fund a court case, demanded an enquiry and so forth. An enquiry WAS held- the then health minister, a certain C.P. Thakur, held a closed doors meeting with the people who'd set the paper (the AIIMS faculty) and after 45 mts., announced to the press that no evidence of wrongdoing had been found. Allocation of seats would proceed as planned. The unspoken fact stared everyone in the face- sue us, see if we care!

That was it as far as I was concerned. Even though I held very little stakes, having invested just 3 months compared to people's years upon years, I was disenchanted enough to abandon the idea. Finally, I latched on to what Hari and Kitty had been prompting me to do for ages- go abroad and find my lifetime's work among the endless options offered in the West. Y'all know how the rest happened- I cleared GRE and set out to create a CV reflecting a commitment to public health, which is how I've spent the last 4 years.

Compare that to a scenario that unfolded a couple of years back- the CAT exam paper was leaked as well, and discovered to be so. The media ensured front-page coverage for a week; the exam was promptly cancelled, rescheduled, and the 2nd time around, extra efforts were in place to ensure that nothing untoward happened. Incidentally, Preeti cleared that exam both times and is now just about wrapping up her final semester, with as assured job in her pocket already, with hazaar perks thrown in.

I've "done time" treating people I have utter contempt for, on account of their ignorance, their sheer bloody-mindedness and bigotry, in extreme climates, with less than basic amenities, for ridiculously low salaries. And yeah, I'm actually quite priveleged, in that, anytime I wanted, I could chuck it all and return home to do the conventional thing and simply take over dad's established practice. I had the luxuary of CHOICE.

This ought to reveal starkly exactly where the establishment's interests lie. The notion of medicine as a noble profession is downright risible, for which both medicos and the Others are equally to blame. But by God, let anything taint the sarcosanct IIMs' sacred-cow status, and the nation's parliament starts frothing at the collective mouth.

So, what are our priorities- we can go along with anything-&-everything-and-screw-quality-control-notions when we hand over our lives to professionals supposedly qualified to heal and save lives; but boy, better not tamper with the system churning out people who're going to spend their lives selling bottled water and potato chips.

I know this sounds obnoxiously self-righteous, but hey, this is what's happening, and I find it unacceptable. But then, I'm blessed enough to have an escape route (Inshallah!).