Bolan Medical College had been the only medical college in Balochistan for the last few decades. Being the sole recipient of the attention and finances of Health Department,one would imagine it would be of highest standards. But I’m afraid reality is contrary to what you would expect. BMC has problems ranging from slightest bits of negligence to criminal levels of mismanagement. Now that it has been finally upgraded to a university I am sure it will drag the other three colleges to the abyss with it. Like the cool superhero,let me tackle the problems at BMC,one at a time.
An institution is judged by the standards of it sets with its admission criteria, I must admit BMC has an upper hand as compared to other institutions in Balochistan.
Having said that,I must point out the leisurely pace at which administration conducts the admission test,announces the results and initiate the classes for new batch. The classes for last year’s batch have not started yet while in other provinces the classes had begun six months ago. This results in frustration and wastage of time and the first taste of frustration and anger which students will face for the next five years.
After getting admission into this “prestigious” university one comes to the realization that this institute lacks academic calendar. I’m sure it will be shocking to educators all over the world that there is no planning whatsoever. No planning is done for the initiation of classes and clinical rotation. There is no schedule for about 1500 students. There is an element of surprise in everything around here. It is chaos in its purest form. BMC is the Venezuela of medical universities.
The lack of adequate staff and facilities in almost every department is evident to everyone. No grouping in during Gross Anatomy demonstration, lack of cadavers and no autopsy demonstration during Forensic Medicine rotation are a few to point out.
The mess and cafeteria are of such low quality that students prefer cooking themselves in their rooms which is both time consuming and a fire hazard.
But these are the least of concerns for a student who is living consistently in the fear of failure. These students who compete at highest level to get into BMC are treated in the worst possible manner by their teachers. I don’t expect the teachers to shower students with roses but mentally harassing the students is not justifiable. Teachers in BMC openly threaten students with terrible results and they deliver on their threats. It is like living in Saudi Arabia, you never know when and how you will offend someone and get beheaded for it. When compared with students of other medical colleges, students in BMC tend to be more hard working and yet results are worse than ever in BMC.
In the most recent bit of mockery of education in BMC,three prof BDS were handed a result of zero percent. Not a single student was deemed worthy of passing the exam. I am no expert but that seems like a crisis. The whole system is rotten. Teachers must be made accountable for this,if not a single student can pass I think teachers should be held accountable.
Students are suffering the consequences, mental illnesses are common among students in BMC. Anxiety and depression are common. The authorities must act and come up with some solution for this conundrum.
