Unprepared Professor

We are quite particular in preparation of the teaching program for students. The lecture series is prepared a few months in advance, and displayed on notice boards for students and teachers. The teachers are reminded in advance by the record assistant, so that they get to prepare themselves, and do not forget to teach on the scheduled day too. We have this professor, who was scheduled to teach on a particular day after my lecture last month. I finished my class on time, but he did not arrive as expected. Later on I heard that he did teach. Today I heard the remaining part of the story. His lecture was on ‘puerperium.’ He tried to get it rescheduled, because his unit residents were to present a journal club. Rescheduling for personal reasons is not possible, and the request was refused by the concerned officer. He had to arrange with someone else and exchange teaching sessions mutually. He was probably unable to find anyone willing to exchange the session with. Finally he took a lecture himself. I heard he taught ‘how to appear for an examination’ instead of ‘puerperium’. Probably he had not prepared for the class, and did not have any slides, nor could get slides from anyone else. Now the students have to learn the topic on their own, or go through life without knowing about it. “Sir, but how can a professor as senior as he can not know enough to teach undergraduate students even without any preparation?” the concerned officer asked me. “That is the way it is” I said.