As I chanced to read about the Maslow's hierachy of needs, one thought filled up my mind.
The current state of education especially in medical schools has been critiqued immensely as to the knowledge levels compared to the past. It is very easy to say that the pursuit of knowledge has declined over the recent years. Forced to see what lies beneath, we now enter into the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Bottom most in the hierarchy is physiological needs- including water, air, food and rest. And then , safety- a roof above, financial security, then the feelings of belongingness and love, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self actualisation and transcendence.
The top 4-5 levels didn't matter much because we still have unfinished business with the bottom 4.
The sorry state of the medical schools across India, especially with respect to the accommodation provided for the junior and senior residents - the old, dilapidated, near to collapsing hostel rooms, a single bathroom for almost half a dozen students, which mostly lacks a latch or hygiene, unpredictable water supply, rusting pipes leaking gallons of water where it should not suppose to, unequal work distribution, demanding more than what can be humanely achieved in a quantum of time, deprivation of sleep over unfair last minute demands, deprivation of the fair leave policies, unapproachable administrations, ridicule over a woman's plan to marriage or conception during the residency and what not.
Now, the second level - Safety, feeling safe is again a distant dream for the medical community . The assault against doctors, lack of protection in the working environment, especially during this Covid crisis, where the threat of infection and lack of protective gear is another issue. Feeling safe is only a fantasy anymore.
The third level, Belongingness and love - I used to wonder if the interpersonal relationships between the residents and with their teachers remained so in the past as well. Someone whom we know for a few days, and see rarely becomes an acquaintance and we do develop concerns towards them. And the 3 years of post-graduation training is too long a period for enough bonding to happen between students themselves and their teachers. Students are turned towards each other to facilitate easy administration in the pseudo-political milieu of at the organisations. Is it only a medical school scenario or anywhere else, I am at loss to say. But, with expectations we come to residency with fantastic images of group discussions with students and professors , discussing in depth the intricacies of the subject with no inhibitions and fear. Whether the imagery came out as reality, yes, at times, thanks to those professors who made it true. But predominantly, we miss it a lot of times. The idea of learning in groups brings negative memories of being taunted, sarcasm and comments of being targeted for issues not related. The dream of having our professors as well- wishers and second parents remains to be fulfilled at large.
The next level is too exotic for now.
The over optimistic approach to all these issues, adjusting, dismissing and invalidating them might work for the time being thus whipping the residents to work beyond their capabilities and restrictions and turning a blind eye to what really needs to be rectified. In the long term, it will prove a major catastrophe for the medical community and the quality of medical education in our country. The paucity of Quality research from Indian medical schools has been well documented and concerns being raised on a continuous basis and steps being made. Unfortunately, we are looking at the Surface of the issue and refusing to look deeper.
At times, people do rise and develop with great strain, the higher levels of hierarchy with deficits at the lowest levels, meanwhile fighting for the same, the sparse subset of population which acts as the check for adjusting into this dysfunctional system. Often such are disregarded as being anti-social or narcisstic. We need to preserve and value such people for the sake of individual and institutional growth, as the foresightedness is beyond our sights and we would know it only when it happens, but by that time it is already late!
As the individual rises, the institution rises, not at the expense of the individual!
I am sure you can relate this to any issue at hand and at any level of the community unless you are a habitual oppressor!
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