Armed with degrees, graduates step into the ‘real world’ with a bit of trepidation

College to be upgraded to a university, says Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad.

KARACHI:

Though some people awarded degrees at Karachi Medical and Dental College’s (KMDC) fourth convocation had completed their studies a few years ago, they were nevertheless ecstatic when they walked to the stage or when they were showered with “congratulations, doctor sahib”.

Dr Sehrish Rehman, a gold medallist from the batch of 2009, was no stranger to the title. “I have seen many patients now, but being awarded the degree is exhilarating because my hard work over the past years has been recognised in such a ceremonial way.”

At the college’s convocation held on Tuesday, a total of 271 graduates from the batches of 2009 to 2012 were awarded their degrees. Of them, 186 received degrees in medicine while 85 graduated from the dentistry department. KMDC organises convocation ceremonies every four years in which the last four batches are conferred degrees.

Fresh faces mingled with more experienced doctors, eagerly discussing what awaited them in the ‘real world’. There was yet another reason for the graduates to rejoice - Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, the chief guest at the convocation, said that the college will be allocated Rs100 million to be upgraded to a university.

The governor also acceded to the request of the college’s principal, Dr Waqar Kazmi, who had asked for a 10-storey complex to be built along with an information technology lab. The governor also said that Rs25,000 will be given to each gold medallist as a “token of appreciation”.

Students’ woes

Though the college is going to be upgraded to a university, it is plagued by a myriad of problems: students uncertain about job prospects; reports of political influence; and an undersized faculty.

Dr Hareem Zakir, another fresh graduate, who has been working at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said that doctors doing house jobs at the institution had not been paid their monthly stipends for the past six months.

The immediate concern of many fresh graduates was securing a job after the mandatory one-year clinical training. Alternatives include applying for postgraduate studies so that they can become consultants or forage for jobs as consultants in the private sector - but this does not count as experience in postgraduate degrees.

“When the time to be appointed came after the house job, priority was given to the candidates backed by influential people rather than hiring people on merit,” said Dr Asad Iqbal Malik, a gold medallist in dentistry from the 2012 batch, who also achieved distinction in seven subjects.

“Newspapers give coverage to administration, bureaucracy and government officials, but do not give importance to the views of ultimate beneficiaries of the services - the students,” said another graduate, wanting to remain anonymous.

The basic and clinical faculty at the dentistry department is dwarfed by the faculty of medicine at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. “We don’t even have one oral pantomography machine at our dental out-patient department,” she said. “At the operative dentistry department, patients are treated on dysfunctional chairs as even the basic apparatus isn’t available.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2012.