April Fool

I never thought I would be able to fool anyone with that one. But it was the first of April, and I had to try it. I was nearly through my morning round of the wards. The undergrdauate students had joined the round one by one, so that while there had been none with us when we started in the first ward, there were five of them at the end of three quarters of an hour in the fifth ward. I had just read about the failure of the education department’s plan of passing all students in school so that they would learn without pressure and fear of failure. They had not studied at all since they would not fail in exams. When I saw our undergraduate students who behaved like those school-children, I had an idea that I could not resist acting on. “The health university has sent our a circular that states the undergraduate students will not have any exams until the last year of their 4.5 years’ course. They will be automatically passed. They just have to pass one exam at the end of the entire course.” The students watched me warily. They have learned to be wary of me for reasons unknown. I kept a straight face, but I am not sure it did not look over-straight. It probably did. Two of my Assistant Professors grinned slightly. “Have you finished your third-first term” I asked. “Yes” they said. Third-first meant third year part one course, which covered ENT-Ophthal, PSM, Psychiatry, Dermat etc. “So you don’t benefit from this scheme” I said. They managed to look sad. “But your juniors will benefit. Now they can study with a mind free of tensions, free of fear of failure. They will learn their subjects better. At least that is what the university believes. It is on the website of the university. Go check it out.” My residents looked sad that they had not had this opportunity when they were undergraduate students. We proceeded to see the patients in the last ward. Then the students went for a bedside clinic, while I was called to sort out some issue by the building contractor’s carpenter. The next day there was a discussion on education of medical students, when my Associate Professor said indignantly, “The university does not help either. Now with this business of passing every one in all the duration of the undergraduate training until the one and only examination at the end is going to make matters even worse.” I was speechless. After a few seconds of silence, I managed to say, “I am sorry. It was my effort at fooling the students, it being the first of April. I planned to tell you that it was an April-Fool. But I was dragged away. I never thought it would fool you. The Associate Professor kept quiet. She probably resolved to be careful the next year.