Government Medical College BDS Review By Priya Ubhad

My parents were very hopeful that I would get admission in GMC, when the admission process was going on, they had that fear that I would be getting a seat or not, but thankfully I did. While I enjoyed my BDS course till now, you don't get much time during the course though. They say right about medical students, the whole life of medical students goes behind their degree and patients, not that we have any complaints about that. And yes, you don't get time for fun; you have to take out some, to relax a bit. GMC campus is more relaxing than any other thing in the college. It has loads of greenery and for some reason this campus always gave me positive vibes.

Academically, I had a lot of expectations from GMC, some of them were met with flying colors and some of them did not. Every college has plus and minus points. In GMC, before final semester exams we have to give 2 unit tests and 1 common test. In this web of unit tests, where the time goes and semester exams come, time flies very fast for medical students. In practicals, our whole class is separated into batches with the same number of students. Due to pandemic and the rule of social distance, the batches were small in order to keep students safe. The teaching is ok but not that great, even the faculty members hold such knowledge.

I have my share of good experience with faculty and bad experience as well. Teaching is mostly through PPTs and not much of interactive. Everything at GMC is carried out with discipline. Students, teachers, everyone have to obey the rules and keep the discipline intact. And that too the rules are very strict. The college faculty is not much approachable and hence many students hesitate to go to them in case of doubts solving. Though I am sure, the faculty is soft like coconut from inside, but still the fear and hesitation remains. But overall the teaching is ok. The practicals are carried out in labs that are well maintained and have all the equipment we would need for carrying out practicals. The laboratory staff is very helpful by nature.

We have 1 year of internship at the end of our BDS course. The internship is compulsory and a part of the course. During internship we have to attend to patients under faculty or doctor's supervision. Internship is very helpful for future reference. If you get good guidance and supervision throughout your internship it could turn out as a golden opportunity for you. Even if you want to go for masters, even then you have to first complete the internship period. It is actually very interesting seeing your knowledge being applied in reality. Practice makes man perfect, this saying is fit for medical students.

The GMC provides hostel facilities to its students. I have been staying in the hostel since my first year but my time at hostel was very short because of the pandemic and lockdown, we had to attend online classes from home. It gets boring at some point, just attending lectures without practicals. Hostel is not that clean as sweeper comes once a week, so mostly we have to clean up our room. The mess is also provided by the hostel, the food is not that good but considering it is a mess, the food is ok. We have an entertainment room with TV at the hostel. College and hostel are on the same campus. Non-hostelites can enter the hostel anytime they want because of the college and hostel being in the same campus.

The GMC has a kind of old infrastructure which gives vintage vibes. The classrooms, practical labs are also old fashioned. The college has a sports ground for playing and different sports events are organised there also. But due to pandemic all this fun is missed. The annual events are also celebrated with great cheering in GMC, but we didn't get to experience one because of the lockdown. The college campus has so much greenery that it is kind of pleasant to just have a stroll. The college is provided with a canteen, library. Library is huge but it doesn't have enough books. Canteen is good and kept clean.

The campus is always filled with students as the hostel and college is in the same campus. I have missed so much college life fun due to this pandemic. But in the small time I spent going to college, I have made many memories. The teachers are friendly too at a point, they are not that scary but still. The seniors and juniors share a good bond and the seniors are very helpful too.