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Online Education in Medical Profession : It's Future ?

In today's world we increasingly keep juggling between virtual electronic and physical reality. Most of our day to day activities have actually become online be it learning some new dish in the kitchen or chatting with friends or shopping the daily items for home or buying some expensive electronic goods from mobile phone to TV to cameras or paying utility bills, doing banking or just goggling a crazy question in mind and so on. From weather tips to holiday suggestions or a gardening tip to scheduling an appointment with Doctor whatever we need has actually become available online and most of us are using our smart phones and search engines to get the answers of our queries and fulfil our needs. Smart Phones willingly or un-willingly have become our best friends, helpers, guides, teachers, security personnel, wallets and much more. They have replaced so many things and activities of our day to day lives in ways beyond imagination few years back.

Coming to our topic of online classes and it’s role in special scenarios of lock-down, I must begin by saying that such an experience was a first of it’s kind for medical college teachers and students. Though since last few years medical education and information is widely available online and all of us, including health care professionals have been using it extensively for learning. Apart from it in medical world, online medium is used a lot in telecasting lectures, proceedings of conferences and seminars, live surgeries etc. Telemedicine sessions is another field upcoming in big way for providing medical consultations to patients in remote areas as well as expert advice of senior doctors and specialists to peripheral health centres. Thus we see that though the online medical information and knowledge sharing is there for many years, but online lectures for undergraduate and postgraduate medical college students by teaching faculty is altogether a new concept and first time experience.

Formal medical education as we all know is spread over many years and is one of the toughest and longest professional courses. To become a super specialist with MBBS, MS/MD, M.Ch/DM degrees it takes around 13-14 years of college and hospital based learning. Similarly for specialists it’s around 10-11 years of journey, to get degrees. In this long journey of formal medical education as we keep climbing the ladders the focus on practical patient related work keep increasing. In undergraduate courses like MBBS, BDS, BAMS one has to study around 15-20 subjects with practicals forming a big part in all of them. No subject is devoid of practicals. The practicals start from the dissection hall to laboratories for most of pre and para clinical subjects and in the clinical subjects practical learning of students take place in field visits, clinical visits, history taking, ward, OT & OPD postings,  etc. The whole practical training takes place in a very well designed, rigid, strict and tough curriculum. After all the art of medical science is mostly learnt in the practical training received in the hospitals. One may learn the science of medical subjects in books and lecture theatres , but the real art of practising and executing the learned science is mastered in hospital corridors, when you spend your day and night for years. It’s said the more you burn your midnight oil in the hospital environment, the better doctor you will become. This is exactly the reason why in spite of tremendous commercialisation of education, no online medical degree is available. Most of the degrees are available online through open universities now a days, medical being the only exception probably.

What is an online class?

An online class is a course conducted over the internet, often known as the “e-learning”. They are generally conducted through a learning management system, in which students can view their course syllabus and academic progress, as well as communicate with fellow students and their course instructor. It is a type of “distance learning”, not occurring in the traditional way in a classroom.

Online classes are generally self-paced, allowing for greater flexibility in completing coursework. Some of the sites where today online education for the medical students in India are being conducted are Medwhiz, Cisco Webex, Zoom app, Google meet, Big Blue Button etc.

Why online classes are introduced today in Medical Education?

Since the schools, colleges, universities were shut down and the students were allowed to go back to their homes mostly, classroom teaching on regular basis was not possible. This caused a huge loss of the academic hours and the students were getting deprived from the support of their teachers to clarify their doubts and for regular advancement of their course. Hence emerged the idea of online education, where students will be able to learn still, while maintaining the social distancing.

In medical field specially, there is a huge syllabus and combating an academic loss later on would be immensely stressful and would usher in unnecessarily rush for both the students and the teachers. That would dampen the quality of education. So to keep in touch with the syllabus and to head over towards its completion within the scheduled academic year was of utmost necessity and henceforth online education started in almost all the Medical colleges in India.

Ways it is benefiting the medicos (pros):

Certain advantages of online classes are :

1. Sharing the lecture notes and power points become easy, They can revisit the recorded form of the already taught e-classroom lectures in case they face any difficulties or doubts later on.

2. Many faculties are also sending the PPT or notes at the end of the lectures to the students through email or Whats App group, or the students are themselves able to take screenshots of the PPTs, enabling them now to actually listen to the lectures better, without having the pressure of multitasking (listening, understanding and taking notes) at the same time.

3. There is a continuity of study and a huge syllabus can be covered even in the pandemic situations.

4. It’s the best option for students in the lock-down who have their exams approaching. They can be in touch and under the guidance of their professors.

5. Since attendance holds an important criterion in a medical curriculum, a huge portion of it is also compensated during the lock-down itself.

6. Students are now able to attend the classes at home comfort, avoiding congestion and over-crowding of a class room. There are now no visibility issues as they’d used to face often from the back benches. In some places, classroom lightning was also a factor.

7. Students who have the habit of studying alone can concentrate even better during online study. There is no disturbance or distraction from their peers sitting around them.

8. Surgical techniques and many practicals can be very easily demonstrated by videos giving a clear dimension regarding the procedure and it becomes clearer to the student as compared to reading them in the textbooks.

The difficulties Medicos are facing in an online study (cons):  In India, out of 138 crore population, only 56 crore people (approximately) have the access to the internet in 2020. So, despite the large base of internet users, the internet penetration rate in the country still stands below 50%. Though digital revolution is now sweeping small towns and villages, yet many a times its accessibility or connectivity is questionable especially in rural areas and outskirts of towns from where many medical students are coming. Henceforth,

1 ) The medicos who are living in these areas during lock-down are facing a challenge in attending the online lectures.

2)      Due to network disruption or technical issues, the students are often facing a break in the lecture flow, disappearance of the slides from their screen or audio dis-connectivity, leading them to lose interest and confusions in the ongoing class eventually.

3)      Most importantly, practical knowledge and experience is the heart of the learning of a professional course like Medical Education. This is regretfully uncompensated in such an online platform.

4)      Popping up of notifications or other social media messages on their mobile screen also enhances distraction and the students are often deviated towards operating these social medias muting or just minimising the ongoing lectures.

5)      Students are also able to log into the online classes through multiple devices, this enables few students to join the lecture creating fake accounts and disturb the ongoing class in public chat or by unmuting their microphones and making noises.

6)      Lock-down was imposed on a very short notice and the students did not have the idea of its extension from beforehand. Therefore, many are not having all the books or proper copies with them to wherever they are struck down. This hampers the pre-acquaintance of the topics that are going to be taught and post follow up of the topics already taught; thereby, urging the students to slowly lose interest and confidence of the topic in the subsequent lectures.

7)      Some of the teachers are not well versed with this new e-platform so fast and that sets in a restriction in their way of teaching. At times, they are not able to fully express themselves as they would have done with chalk and board.

8)      Due to less time-allotment for e-classes, often there is a rush and many students are finding it difficult to cope up or fully understand and enjoy a new topic. In their perception, its turning out to be a “slide reading”.

9)    The informal ambience and lack of active peer influence often leads to lack of attention in the students for the ongoing lectures.

10)  The successful imparting of an education is assessed through exams, which itself is coming with a lot of loopholes when it comes to an online platform.

What can compensate the direct, real life interaction of a classroom? That warmth of the ‘personal touch’ that the professors give while interacting face to face?

Sharing the lecture in a classroom with the colleagues with the personal encouragement of the professors gives a lifelong impact.

Learning a new thing for the first time can usher in interest only when the students are actively involved, participated and made to perceive the practical utility of it. Otherwise everything is also written in the books!

Many students are not finding an “e-learning” productive owing to the lack of active professor-student and student-student interactions. This in turn is ushering in a teacher-student relationship gap.

Body language is very important in communication. When a teacher is actually able to see his students, he understands whether they are getting the topic and can modify instantly his way of teaching or imparting of the knowledge, sparkling up the interest in the class once again.

In an online class, even when there is a scope for screen sharing, its not possible for a teacher to see 100 or 150 tiny picture details covering a small part of the screen at the same time.

Moreover, students who have just been promoted to the new academic year, a few days before the lock-down has set in; are not being able to know their new professors by face (except for a few teachers who are sharing their screen and showing up their face while teaching). This creates an identifying crisis in the students and affects the teacher-student familiarity, and hence the bond.

What are the ways to overcome the teacher-student relationship gaps of the online classes?

Enhancing interactions is the key solution to compensate the teacher-student relationship gaps. Interactions on an “e-platform” can be enhanced through:

1. Introducing Video Conferencing while teaching.
2. Involving the students in a presentation of the already taught and explained topics.
3. Interactive online quizzes at the end of each topic or once a week along with rewards for the winners.
4. Creating a familial and friendly atmosphere for the students, so that they can comfortably speak up their needs.
5. Giving away the overall brief picture of the topic in a nutshell at the beginning of the lecture to break the ice. This will help the students to understand where they are standing in a lecture, and pay attention interestingly.
6. To engage the students through questioning or interesting stories even in the middle of lectures
7. To show up one self while teaching so that the student identifies their professor.
8. The faculty should also take the class on a bubbly and comfortable note..
9. Students should have self-controls and hide or switch off their notifications during lecture hours.
10.  Students should be honest with their user ids and maintain the formal decorum of the online education.
11. A regular feedback is essential to understand the gaps and identify the areas for improvement

With this background when we were given the task of online teaching for medical students, the idea itself scared all of us. It was not that we were not computer or gadget friendly, but we knew this is something which will actually harm the medical education. But in the circumstances, there was no other option, so the medical faculty decided to give it’s best in the restricted environment.

But online education completely lacks human touch, it completely lacks the interaction that is very much needed for transferring of knowledge between the two sides and that can happen only in the classroom setting. A teacher sitting in a transmitting area and broadcasting on a system not in front of his or her students can never give his or her best. A senior faculty member Prof. Kishor Patwardhan, MD(Ay), PhD, Vaidya-Scientist Fellow and Professor in Department of Kriya Sharir, Faculty of Ayurveda, IMS, BHU, with decades of teaching and research experience and an expert in online lectures, when asked about online medical classes said, “I was unable to figure out why I have a confused state of mind, with very little motivation since the lock-down began. Handling online activities was not new to me. In fact, I have been moderating Face book groups, Google classrooms etc since many years for conducting academic activities. I have been working on making Ayurveda academic deliberations online through Ayurveda Network for more than one year.

He continues to express his dissatisfaction “Still, this time when I was asked to restrict all academic activities to online mode, I became restless. Though for the first few weeks, I could sustain this, I became too exhausted for the last ten days or so. I did not have the drive to keep up all my activities up-to-date. I could not meet the deadlines. In fact, there were a few papers that we were working on and there were a few other assignments like editorial work etc. Though nothing was directly linked with lock-down, I was unable to keep up my normal motivation levels to keep continuing my work. Today suddenly I realised why I was feeling low: this 'online teaching' was not the profession I loved! I loved spending time with my students. I could write papers only and only while sitting with my students. Many new ideas would come up during the discussions I used to have with my students. Many questions that students used to ask made me think and made me search for the answers. Overall, students kept my learning curve in an upward direction all these years.”

Prof. Patwardhan concludes “With online teaching, we mostly don't have real-time interaction with all of our students. Many of our students are from rural background and do not have uninterrupted Internet connectivity. Many don't even have access to android devices and laptops! Overall, I have not yet mastered the art of ignoring this glaring inequality and pretending as though everything is hunky-dory! Hence, I want a normal classroom, as early as possible!”

IMS, BHU attracts the best of under and post graduate students, they are cream of the society and excel everywhere. When asked how are they feeling with this system. Their emotions are summed up below :

“The impending uncertainty of our future did petrify us. This uncertainty went on for more than a month. We were scared whether there would be examinations once college reopened. We were scared about the fact that our session well get delayed which will lead to the eventual delay in our final professional exam and future, our opportunity to take the Post graduation Entrance test. Along with hysteria, there was a gloom that loomed in the atmosphere. Our syllabus was lagging behind. Not all was fine and the virus was spreading.

There was an answer though. Technology has really come a long way. The proposal of online teaching was welcomed far and wide by all teachers and students alike. Schedule was set to do away with the lag and move forward in the portions completed. Multiple applications were found and tested to finally select the one that was the best. We were mailed or texted our schedules in advance.

The first few days were very exciting for it was a different platform altogether. Something we hadn’t had the opportunity to experience previously. Teachers shared their presentations and instead of taking notes, it was easier for students to take screenshots which helped them to save the class on their phones. Few of the teachers even sent their presentation for it was easier for students. Teachers tried to interact too through questions and discussion which most of the students refrained from for fear of embarrassment. Interactions from students were mostly limited to wishing the teachers at the beginning and at the end of the class. It was heartening and overwhelming to see teachers who do not use technology much, trying to develop a knack for it and struggling in the process. They tried their best to give their all alongside dealing with their patients and being the forerunners in the fight against COVID-19.

All this did come with a whole lot of glitches as well. The compulsory attendance system was unfair to students living in remote areas where regular internet supply was not possible and even if it was sometimes the amount of internet data used up was large. It was very disheartening to see few notorious students acting like miscreants and making use of technology to create disturbance in the already disturbed classes. Sometimes the connection was not proper and classes would result in a waste of time.  Since both the teachers and students were not in an ambient atmosphere conducive to a classroom teaching for they were either at homes or the hospital – it did create struggle on both their parts sometimes managing and shuffling both the things.

It was also saddening to see, that somewhere Indian teachers no matter how proficient they are in their professional skill, struggled where it came  to using technology. Also the fact that the number of classes took in a day exceeded what we had on a normal college day – created a backlog for students because the syllabus now was running far ahead of its time but students had no books to study the subjects with. Screenshots of presentation and PDF version of textbooks do not help most of the students to clear their doubts and understand the concepts. This further increased the fear – what if examinations are held just after the lock-down is over?  The teachers would claim that the syllabus is done and dusted, but it was not possible for students to get their book during this period of crisis. But what the biggest drawback was that there was no human touch. We couldn’t see our teachers standing tall in front of us. Teaching us, questioning us, scolding us. Neither could they see us. What is of utmost importance in the filed of medicine is clinical experience. This situation led to a situation where there was no clinics and no gain of experience.

But all is well that ends well. The untiring efforts of our arduous teachers will help us always excel in life. It is only because of them that we are who we are and we will be what we will be. We can never thank them enough for their unfathomable services. Thank you teacher.”

Summing up, both online and offline education have their own advantages and disadvantages and both have their roles to play. But as far as medical education is concerned, online education is certainly not the way, yes in certain special circumstances it can be used, but for routine formal education and training, sooner we return to college and hospital based teaching in lecture halls, wards, OTs, OPDs , the better it will be for humanity. As Doctors mastering in art and science of medicine can only be produced by the enormous practical experience they gain and receive from their seniors and teachers coupled with theoretical knowledge of books and class room teachings.

This article is also part of a very interesting book on online education future, titled : ‘Online Education During Lockdown Valued Opinion’ by Prof. Vidhi Nagar, Faculty of Performing Arts, BHU , published on NotNul

ABOUT AUTHORS

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia  has been pioneer in establishing Open Heart Surgery programme, Open Heart surgery and Thoracic surgery ICU, M.Ch degree in CTVS, ECPT diploma & PDCC Thoracic Surgery in BHU and modern OT complex of his department.  His main professional interests are heart surgery for children, lung and trauma surgeries, teaching UG and PG students. He loves making educational videos of different cardiothoracic surgical procedures.

He believes in work life balance. Travelling, Trekking, long road journeys, music, photography, antiques collection, phillumeny, philately, Bio-Farming, planting trees, swimming, table tennis, Yog and social activities have been his passion. He considers Nature as reflection of God.

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

Prof. Kishor Patwardhan

MD(Ay), PhD, Vaidya-Scientist Fellow

Professor, Department of Kriya Sharir, 

Coordinator, Ayurveda Network (under PMMMNMTT Scheme of MHRD),

Faculty of Ayurveda, Banaras Hindu University, 

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh,

INDIA- 221005
https://ayurvedanetworkbhu.com/

 Agniparna Chakraborty keeps an interest in Painting,   Cooking, poem writing, is a classical dancer and an Actor in   Tollywood Film Industry and believes that the beauty of life   lies in Humanity and in exploring it's different shades.

 Gargi Sinha, a multi talented medico, she loves literature and travelling to explore all the unexplored wilderness of this world. She has a never say no spirit to tasks assigned and utilises every opportunity to learn more.

Financial Planning : Mistakes I Did & Lessons I Learnt

Please give time and read it carefully. I am not a Financial Planning expert, but I have learned a little
1. from my mistakes, 2. from my own research on this topic and 3. through some really good financial advisers. Sharing few of the lessons and general tips.

This blog is especially for all my medical students and residents, who hardly get time to think and plan about their hard earned money or do random investments here and there without any plan under influence of agents who plan their future through your money or simply spend it with no wish of saving !!

It's difficult, but not impossible to find a good financial adviser, who understands your needs and dreams and plans your investment portfolio. My parents and elders in family taught me the value of saving and piggy bank was our love too. But later I struggled and made lot of mistakes in investing my hard earned little salary. Time taught me few hard lessons and I realised my mistakes.

Though I still do mistakes and no one can be perfect in investment planning , but we can certainly minimise our mistakes and learn from others.

When I started earning after finishing my medical studies, that lasted around 14 years, I was already 34 years of age. During medical studies in MBBS I was dependent on home , though by selling cards made by photos I click, I earned some pocket money, eight rupees per card . Then as junior resident in MS general surgery course my pay was approximately 5000 to 7000 rps per month for three years and in MCh CTVS course as senior resident it was approximately 12000 to 14000 rps per month for three years. And I had no idea how and where should I invest my hard earned money, simply because of ignorance, lack of priority and no time . Whatever little I was able to save ,I kept on investing randomly with advises by random financial agents, with no future thoughts and goals resulting in loosing my hard earned money and missing the benefits of 'early you invest, early you make good returns.'

One of my friends Prof. Lalit Mohan Agrawal says "I too have faced similar challenges which taught me to have 1. Health insurance, 2. One Flat, 3. secured monthly income after retirement because we will not get pension 4. Bank balance of at least 5 months salary for emergency, 6. Good friends and sincere relative along with happy intact family." Always remember 6th one is not the last and least, it's equally important too. 

My suggestions to all young medicos and all our MBBS students and MD/MS/DM/MCh residents , go through below mentioned points , carefully, start your financial planning early, don't think that it's too early to waste time on this, don't think I will start saving after marriage, do your own research, find a good financial adviser, a good doctor for your money, ask questions from adviser, don't follow blindly, do patient's not seek second opinion on our advise to them ? , same-way seek second opinion on your financial adviser suggestions if needed , give time to understand your investments and return from it. Diversification, Patience and Timing are the key factors , and yes I strongly feel that MCI should introduce financial planning as a full chapter in MBBS curriculum. 

The most common mistake across the world investors commit is , following the herd. 

I would recommend two books, Predictably irrational by Dan Ariely and The art of thinking clearly by Rolf Dobelli. Both the books talk beautifully about the behavioral biases we carry, which lead to wrong decisions in Investing. Another interesting book is Rich Dad Poor Dad... and the lessons from it are : 

• Explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich

• Challenges the belief that your house is an asset

• Shows parents why they can't rely on the school system to teach their kids about money

• Defines once and for all an asset and a liability

• Teaches you what to teach your kids about money for their future financial success

Last week while discussing with a cardiac surgeon, Dr Swarup Pal, I was sharing some of my experiences, he penned it beautifully in to this small note :

What are the mistakes that can ruin our financial lives?

1. Buying insurance policies for investment purpose:-

Have you invested your money in insurance plan to get a return in future ? If yes, then it's a Big mistake! Out of 100 people, 95 have made this mistake. I did many times.

Very few people understand the difference between endowment plan and term plan.

“Your term cover should be 12-15 times your dependent family's annual expenses”. Yet another thumb rule says it should be at least 8-10 times your annual income. But these are rough calculations and what's your worth or what value of term plan you should take, can be calculated with help of many charts and tables available online. 

A good article on this is : 

http://www.ecoti.in/b5fd0Y 

2. Are you paying the minimum amount due on your credit card payment?

If yes, you are trapped in credit card mystery.

On the other side, very few people really enjoy the benefits like free lounge access, buy one get one movie ticket, etc. So if you are not using them, shed these benefits from card and have a card that has no or minimum yearly fees. Remember credit cards are one of the biggest cause of you falling into a debt cycle that will never end.

3. No idea about the power of compounding:-

Everyone has come across the formula of compounding but very few people really understand its power. This is the reason people do not start saving early and hence lose out on the power of compounding. Albert Einstein said that power of compounding is the eighth wonder of the world.

The PPF is a wonderful saving instrument, not only good for income tax saving, but it helps you to accumulate a very good wealth by the time it matures, and another good thing is that interest is tax free. One should certainly open PPF as early as possible in life. It can be extended after maturity.
The ideal way to maximize the interest on your PPF account would be to invest Rs 1 lakh (the maximum investible amount in a year) at one go at the beginning of the financial year. PPF accounts follow an April-to-March year so to earn the maximum interest, you should deposit the amount on/before 5th of April every year. A one-time deposit will earn interest for the whole year.
For details https://groww.in/p/savings-schemes/public-provident-fund-ppf/

4. Buying stocks based on tips without any knowledge:-

You will find every Tom, Dick and Harry giving stock tips over Facebook, Whatsapp and TV.

Unfortunately, a lot of people fall in a trap of these people and invest money without any knowledge. What is the end result? They lose everything!

5. Becoming a victim of lifestyle inflation :-

Moving from 2bhk to 3bhk just because you have got a good hike, upgrading your car because you have got some bonus upgrading mobile on every new model launches or big sales are some of the examples of lifestyle inflation destroying financial lives. Your wardrobe is overflowing with garments which you seldom used. Yet you buy on every visit to mall or on every discount on online sales.

6. Buying things just because they are on discount :-

From Amazon’s “Great Indian Sale” to Flipkart’s “The Big Billion Days”, everyone is en cashing on the weakness of Indians buying things just because it is on discount.

Funny thing is now you will find such sales every other month.

7. Getting tempted to go for an exotic vacation just because someone put a post on Facebook and Instagram

Instagram and Facebook are introduced as Social Media Platform but they are actually destroying the entire social fabric. Facebook and Instagram are more of a marketing platform where people post stuff just to get some likes and companies promote their product and services.

8. Spending a bomb on weekend parties:-

5 days work and 2 days party: This is the new culture in India.

Pubs are jam-packed on weekends where people would spend a bomb on drinks.

By the end of the month, they are left with no money. Think for what kind of fun are you doing this ? Will this give you any eternal happiness ?

9. No track of cash flow:-

Very few people keep a track of their expenses. Most of them just don’t know where the money is gone. Maintain a Diary of your expenses, this will help to develop financial discipline.

10. No emergency budget :-

Not having any extra money in the case of an emergency results in embarrassing situations of borrowing money from friends and relative. Some people even break their investments and make a big mistake.

11. No medical insurance :-

People are losing out the lifetime savings just because they did not take medical insurance.

One accident can shatter all financial dreams. Better be insured. Healthcare cost is rising and it is impossible to manage it without insurance. Read fine prints carefully before taking a plan. Compare online different health plans available and then take one. https://health.policybazaar.com/

12. No financial plan :-

People do not know why they need to save money because they don’t know their financial goals.Set your goals, like your higher education,home,recreation,enjoying hobbies,marriage,children's education and marriage,health needs etc. Plan about your retirement also, look for retirement plans that suit your life style and needs. https://www.policybazaar.com/life-insurance/pension-plans/ will give you some idea on different pension plans in India. Yes it all looks very confusing, but then if you give time, it will become clear. Think about NPS plan of Government of India also.

13. No diversification :-

Some people would invest all their money in real estate, some would invest all the money in gold, some would just keep it in the locker, some would invest all the money in the stock market.

Very few people understand the right way of diversifying the investments. Like we eat different foods to get all nutrients needed for healthy body, in same way we need to invest in different segments to keep our money and returns healthy.

Always diversify your investments. In your financial basket you should have bank investments like FDs and PPF, post office saving schemes, NPS, term and health insurance, mutual funds, property, gold etc.

14. Spending all the hard earned money on children marriage :-

Thanks to our Hippocratic society! People save their entire life just to spend all the money on random relatives who only bother about the food and arrangements.

15. Buying excessive gold only to keep it in the locker :-

Gold worth lakhs is kept in lockers only to be used once or twice a year. This is resulting in the money getting blocked and hence not getting any returns on it.

16. An extremely conservative approach with investment :-

Traditionally, people have been risk-averse. They would just have an FD and live on 6–7% annual interest. Some would just keep the cash at home. Both the approaches will actually make your money negative. Yes some amount of money should be in form of FD or cash so that in emergency you can have liquid money immediately.

17. Lack of clarity between asset and liability :-

Having a car is not an asset because it consumes fuel and has a maintenance cost.Its price will only depreciate in the future. Car is a necessity but people spend a lot of money and even take the loan to buy a luxury car over and above their budget.

18. Considering frugal as cheap :-

A lot of people confuse economic spending with being cheap. An economic spender does not compromise with quality but does his research well enough to buy the product or service at the lowest rate.

19. Procrastinating investment decisions :- “I will invest from tomorrow”. But the problem is that tomorrow never comes.

20. Spending a lot of money on fancy stuff :-

A fancy car, a fancy house, a fancy watch, a fancy vacation. People want fancy stuff and willing to pay a premium irrespective of the value it generates.

21. Lack of patience :-

“I can’t wait for my wealth to grow.I want to double my investments in 6 months. I need to invest in the stock market.” A lot of people lose their lifetime of savings because they don’t have the patience to understand the investment option and would blindly trust anyone with their investment. Another factor is lack of patience when you have done SIPs in Mutual Funds, market goes ups and downs, and when it's down we get panicky and start withdrawing, here patience may play the key. because what goes down certainly comes up one day. As i understand timing and patience play key roles in getting you good returns from mutual funds apart from the selection of funds. One should do research online by seeing the performance of various fund houses and then choose the MFs. Mutual funds are also subject to market risks. Don't sign blindly, ask the adviser about the funds in detail.
What is SIP?

Systematic Investment Plan, commonly referred to as an SIP, allows you to invest regularly a fixed sum in your favourite mutual fund scheme/s. In SIP, a fixed amount is deducted from your savings account every month and directed towards the mutual fund you choose to invest in.

22. Depending upon others for investment decisions :-

“I don’t know anything about investment. Please manage my money.” Unfortunately, a lot of people are dependent upon others with their hard earned money. This is the reason we have a lot of self-proclaimed experts giving stock market tips. But such illiterate investment by you will harm you only.

23. Not discussing the money matters in the family and with Financial Advisers :-

Discussions related to money are considered as a taboo in Indian families. Nobody really discusses money matters.

24. Wasting time on unproductive things :-

Rather than learning new stuff and growing the skill set, people end up wasting time on social media.

25. Lack of disciplined investment :-

Instead of spending what is left after investing, people invest what is left after spending.

This results in undisciplined investment.
26. Property Investment : Buy a property only when you can manage it, you can go there at least once in a year, you have checked its legal papers in depth, land should have well demarcated boundaries, it's always better to but ready to move in flat, don't just buy because property is cheap, you should have a reason to buy it.
27. Teach not only the importance of saving but how and where to save also to your children.

27. Root Cause :- Lack of knowledge about personal financial management !!

Make yourself financially literate for better financial future for you and your loved ones. Treasure of information is available on web on managing your personal finance. Few of the websites are 

valueresearchonline.com, investopedia.com, allbankingsolutions.com, rbi.org.in, sbi.co.in,   indiapost.gov.in,   india.gov.in   incomtaxindia.gov.in, finmin.nic.in, licindia.in, npstrust.org.in, pfrda.org.in, epfindia.gov.in, amfiindia.com, moneycontrol.com, moneyexcel.com,  charteredclub.com, taxguru.in, cleartax.in, basunivesh.com, nseindia.com and of course search engine- google.com and youtube.com.

Thanks for Inputs by : Shyam Maheshwary

Dr. Siddharth Lakhotia

MBBS, MS, M.Ch (CTVS), FIACS