Praying to become a doctor

Students give the Hafiz-e-Quran test ahead of the entry test for annual admissions in the government medical colleges.

KARACHI: A hundred and forty-eight nervous students stood mumbling prayers outside the examiner’s office at Dow Medical College (DMC) on Tuesday. The students were there to give the Hafiz-e-Quran test ahead of the entry test for annual admissions in the government medical colleges.

These colleges include Sindh Medical College (SMC), DMC and the Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan Institute of Oral Health Sciences (DIKIOHS).

Candidates who take the Hafiz-e-Quran test get the opportunity to score an extra per cent, provided they get full marks out of 10. Most students, however, maintained that the highest they can get is eight out of 10. But even if they are unable to achieve a one per cent increase, “the extra marks still help a great deal”.

While any candidate who passes the test gets a slight edge over other applicants, there is also another material incentive for these pious students. Every year, one seat is reserved for a young man or woman who has memorised the Holy Quran by heart and has been unable to get in through normal enrollment into Dow. This year, there are 148 students competing for that one seat.

But even if they are unable to get that seat, the test still gives them a chance to get a few extra marks.

When the competition is this fierce, every mark is precious.

“Becoming a doctor is such a privilege, even one mark counts,” said Areeba, cloaked in black, “I never thought that learning the Holy Quran will help me in my career.” The young woman said that the pressure to do well was intense, “You gain so much value in the family [by studying to become a doctor] that no pre-medical student would want to get rejected.”

One candidate among the crowd of pious had other reasons for heading towards a medical career. Abandoning his original plan to become an Aalim (religious scholar), Danial explained that doctors have more perks. “Also, girls literally fall at your feet when they find out you’re a doctor,” he declared. However, it was not just the idea of more ladies that convinced Danial to take the Hafiz-e-Quran test. He is currently studying at Hamdard University, where the five-year programme was costing his family Rs2.5 million. This amount, he felt, was too much for his father, who earns a modest income. “If I had other siblings, I would have never been able to even dream of becoming a doctor,” he said.

Danial saw an MBBS degree as a key to his dreams.  “I will be able to marry any of the rich girls in my family and secure my future,” he predicted optimistically.

Another candidate, Jaweria, a student of St Joseph’s College who scored 85 per cent in her intermediate, explained that no one wants to miss a chance to augment their total score. “Getting some marks before the actual test will help ease some tension,” she said.

For Rabiyah, the test meant more than just a few marks. Already enrolled in the University of Karachi and studying botany, she still yearns to be a doctor. She is planning to take the entrance exam for the second time after failing the first attempt.

“I studied pre-medicine so I could become a doctor and so I’m going to grab every chance I get to achieve that goal,” she said.

Her score this time around too is not very good, she feels. This score will go down even more when 10 marks are deducted from it because she is taking the exam for the second time.

Taking an exam is not easy, she explained, adding, “Your confidence always wavers when you desperately need something, no matter how well-prepared you are.”

While thousands of candidates sit for the medical entrance exam every year, only a few hundred make it to the lucky list.  Out of the total 4,500 students appearing this year only 800 will get the chance to hit the professional grounds of medicine and dentistry, said Professor Dr Umar Farooq, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences.

The exam date has been delayed from September 19 to October 19 since the floods have diverted doctors’ efforts to relief efforts.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2010.