Final Year Medical students feedback on Classroom Teaching

How to make Classroom teaching more effective and inclusive in Medical Sciences ?

I being a Cardio Thoracic surgeon, hence not a very experienced teacher of UG students in medical college, as super speciality departments don’t get to take many classes of MBBS. But teaching has always been my passion as I feel that when I teach, it’s a bilateral flow of knowledge transfer. In the process I gain a lot. I get a chance to transfer the knowledge of my teachers, the experience I gained from patients, cases and surgeries. If I am able to ignite or awaken few minds in my journey as teacher, I will be very happy person as I feel an awaken mind can find everything on his or her own later.

Once I asked final year medical students via online survey ( Name of colleges who participated not to be disclosed ) regarding their suggestions and feedback on class room teaching and how can it be made more inclusive and purposeful. 

In general, low attendance in classes prompted me to do this exercise. Around 40 final year students participated in feedback. I am summarising the inputs they gave with respect to classroom teaching, academic activities and atmosphere and also some related issues. 

I will also be thankful if respected teachers can also give their valuable suggestions and experiences, so that student’s satisfaction remains high.

If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to post below.

Final Year Medicos (MBBS) feedback summary, as they have written

1. . .    PowerPoint presentations: slides are at times very lengthy, too many and it becomes very boring. Mix of black board teaching and ppt is very welcome.
   
   
   2.    All presentations by teachers can be uploaded online from where the students can download them later for better understanding.
   
   
   3.    Short MCQ session / Q and A after the class.
   
   
   4.    Theory lecture supplemented by a real scenario case history , wherever feasible.
   
   
   5.    Exams should have both descriptive and MCQ.
   
   
   6.    Exam timings, class timings and Syllabus notices to be shared well on time and also available on line.
   
   
   7.    Canteen which remain open late night and serves good multiple variety hygienic, protein rich, non-junk food.
   
   
   8.    Evening postings: students are of the opinion that they are hardly left with time for self study. Should not be more than 4 days a week.
   
   
   9.    No class on day of sessional exams and there should be one day gap between the exams.
   
   
   10. More integrated classes with theory and practical together and different disciplines involved teaching together. 
   
   
   11. Counselling sessions for PG branch/course to be held.
   
   
   12. Breakfast should be available before 8 am class in hostel.
   
   
   13. Clinical postings should have a syllabus of cases that needs to be seen.
   
   
   14. Attendance sheet should be shown to us every three monthly.
   
   
   15. Answer sheets of exams should be shown.
   
   
   16. Classes on communication skills, personality development. 
   
   
   17. Library should have more seating capacity.
   
   
   18. Lecture theatre infrastructure: Mikes, speaker, lack of Air conditioning, bad acoustics, un comfortable seats, dogs entering classrooms were common mentions.
   
   
   19. Training about financial planning and research methodologies. Also, how to write a paper and make a presentation.

I am sure we will ponder on above points.

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch, FIACS

Professor and Head

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Institute of Medical Sciences

BHU, Varanasi

drslakhotia@gmail.com

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

Thanks Dr Siddharth, at least in my knowledge, you are the first person who raised the issue of teaching. In present scenario everyone assesses the status of Institutions by quality research outputs and projects grabbed. One should realise that proper understanding of the subject forms the plinth of quality research. We must introspect about the quality of teaching which we are catering to our students. 

Green Environment Friendly Hospital and Medical College

Siddharth Lakhotia

How should be Our Future Medical Colleges and Hospitals with respect to Greenery ?

Nature Heals, Nature Cures !!

Nature is the only true Medicine.

Though it looks like a dream to think of such public hospitals, but if we don't act now, overcrowded concrete hospitals will become a major cause of disease themselves.

With increasing need of humanity we are rapidly developing more and more concrete infrastructure to fulfil our needs. But this all is occurring at a big big cost, which we all know, rapid destruction of Nature, trees and open grass lands, and with it comes many modern diseases and problems.

Modern hospitals slowly are becoming a home for diseases themselves, due to their concrete, centrally air-conditioned, all artificial light designs and many other reasons with hardly any space for cross ventilation, open gardens, sunlight, natural air, blue sky, trees and other elements of Nature.

Holistic eco friendly sustainable development is very much the need of hour. Let our trees, gardens, sunlight, fresh air and flowers be heart and lungs of our medical colleges and hospitals. They too are Doctors of Nature !! We need to strike a balance with nature

Health of a patient is directly related to presence of fresh air, sunlight and healthy nature around him or her. It makes him or her joyful and happy, so badly needed for quick recovery

Green Policy and Statement : Should be Must 

1.     50 % land area of medical colleges and associated hospitals will always be kept as open green unconstructed land occupied by large trees like Neem, Banyan, Peepal, Mahua, Mango

2.     Green architecture. It is a method of sustainable building design where the design and construction of a building or structure is done while keeping the environment in mind.

GRIHA, an acronym for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, is now the National Rating System of India. Conceived by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, GRIHA is a green building design evaluation system.

It provides basic prerequisites for green buildings in terms of the following:

a) climate-based layouts and designs to minimise energy consumption

b) waste water treatment and recycling with zero external discharge

c) use of fly ash blocks for walls and slabs to maximise use of recycled material

d) maximum use of natural lighting and optimum indoor air quality

e ) rain water harvesting

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch, FIACS

Professor and Head

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Institute of Medical Sciences

BHU, Varanasi

drslakhotia@gmail.com

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

Joy of Becoming a Cardio Thoracic Surgeon

Beauty of Cardio Thoracic Surgery and My Journey 

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

I would love to share a bit about my profession and work of our team at Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi a tertiary care 2000 plus bedded university teaching hospital and medical college under Govt of India. I joined here in 2011 after I finished my MBBS in 1998 from Calcutta, MS Gen Surgery in 2003 from Rewa and MCh in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery from Kanpur in 2007. I worked at RML Hospital Delhi, LRS Institute of TB and RD Delhi, BM Birla Heart Research Centre, Calcutta and SSSH Hospital, Rajkot for my further experience in cardio thoracic surgery. During all this period of around 20 years (1992 -20011) I got chance to learn and learn more about medical sciences and then my speciality of heart and lung surgery. I was blessed to have some wonderful teachers , got enormous chances to see and work with some great surgeons of India during studies, residency, job, seminars and workshops. They all shaped my profession and future.

Since last many years working in government sector is like rowing a boat against a mountain stream, but yes at end of day when you see a kid smiling and saying thank u or a mother in joy to see her kid recovering or to see stopped heart beating again after surgery is over or to see a blue baby becoming pink after surgery, these are the moments which heal your all pains and sacrifices you have made in this journey. Getting chance to treat poorest of poor and mentor young bright minds of future doctors  is a blessing and it overshadows the poor service conditions and other hardships of working in a government system .

Nothing happens without team , In our team there are around 20 members behind a successful heart surgery... anaesthetics, perfusionist, OT technicians, residents, assistants, ot nurses, icu nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists and many more. And mistake of any can lead to fatal outcome. So we all work as highly coordinated dedicated team where work is not guided by watch but by passion, with cardiac surgeon as team leader.

Sadly we are the only government centre doing these procedures between Lucknow and Patna, a geographical distance of around 500 kms and we roughly cater to a population of around 50 million for their cardiac and lung surgery needs. This results in enormous patient load on us.  

Most of times our patients get financial help from prime minister or chief minister relief fund.

It’s a humble beginning and we feel happy that God gave us chance to serve humanity of this region and help in laying down foundations of Open Heart Surgery programme in this part of India.

Our team has now done more than 1000 successful open heart surgeries which includes many complex congenital heart surgeries, valvular replacements and repairs, CABG , cardiac tumours etc. Apart from cardiac, our department is one of very few centres in India where lung surgeries are also being done in large numbers. I am thankful and grateful to all, especially Prof Damyanti Agrawal Madam for giving me enormous opportunities to contribute in the development of our department.

Around 25 years back, in the spring of 1991, idea of becoming a Doctor dawned on me as one of my friends suggested me that if I love helping needy and poor, then I should choose medical profession. Since then after joining medical college in 1992, dream of touching a live human heart fascinated me and my romance with heart came true twelve years after in 2004, when I joined MCh residency. After that God has given me fascinating opportunity to touch, see and feel thousands of human heart , which is core of our life,  which if beats we are there and which if stops … we are no more.

A typical day in cardiac surgery is filled with variety of emotions ranging from joy to happiness to grief to frustration and anger to excitement and satisfaction. Training, working and then getting established in field of cardiac surgery is like rowing a boat against a mountain stream, full of uncertainty, frustrations and sacrifices in personal life but at the end of day when you see a kid smiling and saying thank you … or a mother in joy to see her baby recovering or a baby becoming pink from blue … or to see stopped heart beating again after surgery … These are the moments which actually heal all your sacrifices, struggle and pain you have made in this journey.

Opening the sternum, seeing the heart beating, then cannulating, going on Cardio Pulmonary Bypass, arresting the heart, cooling it, operating inside the heart, repairing it, constructing pathways in it, replacing damaged structures , doing various anastomosis, closing it back, removing air from heart chambers, reperfusing the heart, seeing it beat again, weaning from CPB, removing cannulas, hemostasis and closing back the sternum are the various steps involved in Cardiac surgery. And then starts the equally important post operative care which may extend from few hours to many days. There are hardly any U turns, a small error in any step by any of team members can lead to high morbidity or mortality.

Taking a lecture class of Final Year students

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

1.        Great role in establishing the regular open heart surgery programme along with our team at Institute of Medical sciences, BHU, Varanasi .

2.        Construction of state of art cardiac surgery ICU in IMS, BHU 2011-12

3.        Starting of MCh in CTVS programme in IMS, BHU 2013

4.        Starting of Diploma in Extracorporeal Perfusion Technology in 2015

5.        Construction of state of art thoracic surgery ICU in IMS, BHU 2016

6.        In charge , planning and designing of CTVS wing in centenary super speciality hospital, BHU

7.        Member and/or Chairman of DPC and PPC of department, hospital 

          PPC and other bodies from time to time.

8.        Purchase of new equipments for continuous up gradation of CTVS department.

9.        Administrative responsibility as Head 2017-2020.

10.     Starting of new course PDCC in Thoracic Surgery from 2020.

GOALS IN LIFE:               

A.        Establishment of Cardiac Surgery in Varanasi region and making it       affordable to poor

B.        Development of integrated cardiac sciences centre.

C.        National Programme for prevention of Rheumatic Heart Diseases

D.        Integration of Ayurveda knowledge and practice of Yoga for well 
           being of cardiac patients

E.         Stem cell research in field of cardiac sciences

I invite students and residents to consider joining this beautiful speciality full of rewards, hard work, dedication, challenges, excitement and joy... in nutshell a blessed career.

 

Being a cardiac surgeon can allow you to work hard and party hard !!

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch, FIACS

Professor and Head

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Institute of Medical Sciences

BHU, Varanasi

drslakhotia@gmail.com

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

When Camera Feels and Speaks

Don't know about others ... But to me Art is God's gift to be Free ... Anonymous.

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

Photography is my passion & my hobby , it helps me to relax and rejuvenate,  to concentrate more in my profession  to express my inner core, to enjoy the reflections of eternal in a way in which our eyes can't enjoy,  it freezes a moment in time forever !

By photography I wanted to spread the message that artists are not only those who study art formally, in fact we all are artists, every human being, every creature,  every life form existing in this word is an artist.  Art is inherent in all of us, we all practice art in one form or another in every act we do.

Who doesn't love photography and to be photographed?  I think we all. Photography is both science and art, art with meditation more. And taking photographs is purely an art with meditation, so I feel.  So why we do not enjoy art in its varied forms which has been gifted to each of us? Why we let artist in us die as we grow more and more in our professional fields? I feel art can be kept alive in each of us, in whichever profession we are. When we keep the artist inside us alive, I feel we do better in our chosen fields.

Art teaches us to be humble, to be caring and sharing and forgiving, to be loving to all !!

Let us rekindle our artistic soul and enjoy this beautiful world of eternal beauty. We always say Oh supreme I want to see you! But through his beautiful creations, his reflections everywhere we are seeing him all the time! Let's realise this and enjoy these Reflections of supreme love in each moment of our lives.

Everything around us can be a subject, can be photographed. We just need a loving eye to observe our surroundings. I feel to take a good photograph more than technology, love and respect for your subject that you want to capture in camera is needed. I realise my knowledge of hardware and software of photography is very poor, the fact is, I simply enjoy clicking from my heart.

“Most important is your composition, timing, angle and of course your mood and love for the subject you are going to click. The more you love and respect your subject, the more you meditate with the subject, more beautiful it will come as a photograph. The connect between you and subject is very important. When I am seeing through the eye piece of my camera, all my other thoughts go away and my mind and heart gets united to see the subject only.” 

My photography books are available on :
https://www.amazon.in/Siddharth-Lakhotia/e/B087RSPT1M/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1 

My passion for photography started when I was in Class 11 and went for National Himalayan Mountaineering Expedition in Sar pass area of Kullu Parbati valley in Himalayas. Since then the love and romance has increased day by day. My photography hobby has not only given me inner happiness and pleasure but also has helped me in making friends, capturing moments of my own, family and friend’s  lives and this passion has given me a lot of stimulus to travel. I have extensively travelled in India from Changlang in Arunanchal  to Dwarka in Gujrat and Laddakh in  J&K to Kanyakumari in Tamilnadu. 

Some of my photos can also be enjoyed with music on :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe_safEIr_soma4YRUcH-PReOXMc9Nsm1

It also helps you to relax and rejuvenate. When I have camera in my hand and eyes behind lens, it's like meditation and the subject becomes the centre of meditation.

In my romantic journey with my camera that started in summers of 1988 I used Kodak hot shot for first 10 years, which was gifted to me by my father. My father himself is a good photographer and enjoys his hobby till date in spite of being an accomplished scientist. My mother also loves painting and photography. There must surely be a 'gene' for photography !!

 After using Kodak for around ten years , I upgraded to Nikon FM-2 and then in 2006 I bought Nikon coolpix and later in 2010 Nikon D 5000 and now I am using Nikon D 5500, Nikon D 750 and Nikon P900 along with different lenses for different purposes. “Camera body along with different type of lenses also play an important role, and I enjoy my set of lenses with basic Nikon body.” And now of course mobile is the best friendly camera we all have.

One does not need to have the most advanced, best of expensive cameras to take good photos; even a simple mobile camera can produce excellent shots. Technical knowledge in great depth is not essential to take good photos, one should have an eye for beauty, imagination in heart for what looks beautiful and love and respect for your subject.

When I started, photography used to be a costly hobby, the film roll and its development were not only costly but getting them developed and printed was time consuming too. With the digital age, cameras have become a common household item, now almost all of us use camera. Modern cameras are very user friendly and can be operated even by kids. And the most wonderful thing is no matter how many snaps you are taking, the cost does not increase. Number of photos that you take are not dependent on your finances but by capacity of your memory card !

There are many magazines and books in the market as well as web sites plus many courses which tell everything you would like to know about science of photography. But the art of photography is something that only you can cultivate in you.

I am extremely thankful and grateful to my parents, family and all friends for giving me encouragement, space, time, blessings and love to pursue my passion.

My message through this article: develop love for nature and surroundings and always cultivate your hobby, no matter what your profession is.

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch, FIACS

Professor and Head

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Institute of Medical Sciences

BHU, Varanasi

drslakhotia@gmail.com

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

Story of Medicos in Pictures

Coffee Table Book on Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi   

Celebrating 100 years of Journey

Available on : 

https://www.amazon.in/Legendary-Dream-IMS-BHU-ebook/dp/B086J9ZXRX

First of its kind book showcasing the beautiful world of Medical Sciences and journey of a government medical college in India, in form of live and vibrant 2000 plus photos along with captivating captions plus articles.

The book is just a very small, like tip of an ice berg, humble attempt to showcase the dimensions of Institute of Medical Sciences in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

As you turn the pages you will be taken to a journey showcasing it's humble beginning, proud history, golden past, majestic present and ambitious future, interdisciplinary magnitude, as well educational and social impact. Book will also reflect the tough student life of an undergraduate medical student, long residency years full of sacrifices, mental and physical stress, hard and harsh working hours yet the joy and satisfaction of saving someone's life.

The book has five sections namely Story of IMS, Tale of white coat, Glimpses of IMS, Behind the curtains and Happy Medicos.

The book will also show the journey of a medico and it's social impact. What goes behind making a graduate, then post graduate and finally a super specialist has been beautifully displayed in the chapter tale of white coat. The chapter traces the journey of students in four different streams namely Modern medicine, Ayurveda, Dental and Nursing sciences.

Mainly a photographic book, it reflects the journey of a medico and nursing student, their hard life and tough schedule, the sacrifices they make for becoming a doctor.

It would certainly be your prized possession full of nostalgia. It’s a tribute to this great institution from all of us.

 www.amazon.com/author/siddharthlakhotia

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch, FIACS

Professor and Head

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery

Institute of Medical Sciences

BHU, Varanasi

drslakhotia@gmail.com

https://www.ctsnet.org/home/slakhotia

Reviews:

This compilation is unique as it's highly informative for medicos and health policy makers at the same time. It nicely describes the cascade of events during metamorphosis of a young biology student into a doctor. Best part of this book which I liked was stunning aerial photographs of IMS-BHU, Varanasi. A must have book not only for medicos but for all enthusiasts interested in having something peculiar of its type. Kudos to the Legend behind this book.

Excellent collection of photos depicting the great and beautiful journey of a Doctor full of sacrifices and happiness. It's a hard work done for this book. For first time I saw a book showing the real life photos of medicos working in hospital. Never seen a book like this before. A must buy for all who love this profession and also those who want to go in this line.

It is an amazing book , depicting the journey of a doctor through pictures which makes it an interesting way of knowing what a person goes through while becoming a doctor

Arnav Tripathi : This compilation is unique as it's highly informative for medicos and health policy makers at the same time. It nicely describes the cascade of events during metamorphosis of a young biology student into a doctor. Best part of this book which I liked was stunning aerial photographs of IMS-BHU, Varanasi. A must have book not only for medicos but for all enthusiasts interested in having something peculiar of its type. Kudos to the Legend behind this book

Snehlata : I always wondering A life of HANDS OF GOD " which is Doctors... normally their life look like very luxurious but when you actually go to the roots their life is so difficult and full of challenges. I am very amazed when actually see their life through this book..I get really very emotional when I come across this book.In totality this book is worth reading.
I thank you the AUTHOR and whole Doctors community for their great sacrifice.
Thanks.

Anjali Rani : Excellent collection of photos depicting the great and beautiful journey of a Doctor full of sacrifices and happiness.
It's a hard work done for this book. For first time I saw a book showing the real life photos of medicos working in hospital. Never seen a book like this before. A must buy for all who love this profession and also those who want to go in this line.

Nandita : Professional nad Classy : Indeed, a legendary book that celebrates the legendary Institute of Medical Sciences that has given life and hope to hundreds of people across the years in BHU. The quality of this book is impeccable, whether it is the language, the photographs or the overall design. Anyone who wants to cherish the legacy of this institute should have this book with them as its a beautifully made, extremely wholesome account of the history and magic of this place

Kunal : Pictures in this is really inspiring.... And give us the ground to imagine...what we gonna do in our future(I'm a MBBS student, IMS, BHU) .... And there is a story behind every pictures..... I know few of them😄... This is worth having for both medicos and non-medicos...

Dr. Rajan Srivastava : This book portrays a journey. A journey of making of an Institution from dreams. It is a well researched pictorial account of the Institute, its faculty, staff and students who are privileged to be a part of this journey. Dr . Siddhartha and his team has come out with a treatise which will be remembered forever.

Deeksha : A mesmerizing collection, with a story behind every picture.. what happens inside a medical college and hospital.. how teachers teaches, how students and residents are learning and saving lives altogether.

Khushboo : It is an amazing book , depicting the journey of a doctor through pictures which makes it an interesting way of knowing what a person goes through while becoming a doctor

Aditi : The result of a lot of time, effort and creativity! Beautiful book to take a glimpse in the life of a medico.