Review on Burdwan Medical College

Initially, I got admitted into Bankura Sammilani Medical College based on the WB NEET UG counselling results. But in the second round, I got the chance to upgrade BMC which is closer to my home and so I chose it. It is one of the older colleges in WB, established in the year 1969 and has one of the largest campuses in the state. My admission was done in the first week of September 2017. As I had already got admitted to BSMC earlier, I just had to transfer the documents and the overall admission process was smooth and not very time consuming. It is MCI recognized and a renowned college in our state. The college is overall good and has provided good memories of the time I have been here. However few improvements are still possible. Infrastructure can be improved a whole lot. Beautification of our college has been going on for some time and it has already been improved from what it was when I got admitted here 4 years back.

After completing my class 10th boards, I opted for Science. Initially, I had an inclination towards Physics and Maths but gradually as I got more acquainted with Biology, my interest grew immensely in the subject and I wanted to do further studies in the medical stream. Thus I chose MBBS. Also medicine as a profession had always fantasized me. So when I got a MBBS seat I opted for it straight away. Our college is under the WBUHS and so all our faculty are well experienced. They provide us with adequate knowledge and guidance. Our batch strength is 150 and recently upgraded to 200 for the batches from 2019-2020. The faculty to student ratio is about 1 for every 30-40. The term exams are regularly held as per the schedule and are of moderate difficulty. Because of COVID-19, the entire country's medical education got hampered and teaching schedules went haywire. Yet our teachers made out time between managing their patients to teach us in online classes and conducted online exams as well.

Internship is available on campus in the college hospital. It lasts for 12 months in various departments of the hospital. It provides important experience to us which can be applied in clinical setting, further on in our career as a medical professional. Our stipend is around 25000-30000 INR monthly at present which is a decent amount at our age. After internship we can go for housestaffship which last for 6 months. It can be extended to 12 months in the same or different department. We get our permanent registration number for clinical practice after internship ends.

After passing the 9th semester and 3rd professional part 2 examination, all students become eligible for the internship which lasts for 12 months in the various departments under guidance of the pg residents and professors. At the end of the internship, we get our permanent registration number. After the internship, students can opt for 6 months of housestaffship in any department of choice based on the merit of their marks in the clinical subjects in the professional exams. Finally, after housestaffship, we can opt for either post graduation in a speciality or join hospitals for work.

Our semester fees are 4500 INR and thus yearly fees of 9000 INR. The admission fees were approximately 2000 INR. West Bengal provides one of the cheapest MBBS fees in the country and thus it is highly affordable. I didn't receive any type of scholarship or financial assistance although such do exist for certain reserved candidates and students of the EWS quota. During the Internship, which extends for 12 months we do receive a stipend of around 28000 INR monthly.

Two fests are held every year, namely Roshnai which is the intra college fest and Spandan which has performances by renowned artists of India. They are traditionally held in September. Books of all major authors are available in the college library and monthly journals are updated on an almost regular basis. Classrooms or the lecture theatres as they are called in medical colleges have overhead projectors, surround sound system and are fully air conditioned. They are made to have a gallery like seating arrangement to allow even the backbench students clearly see the boards and projected screens. Our campus has a large ground, which usually is the place for all kinds of sports including football, cricket, volleyball, etc. There is a badminton court as well in addition to a gym room and TT room. Cricket, football, badminton and volleyball tournaments are held once a year according to the suitability of the students, while TT and chess tournaments are held during fests.

A hostel room has a bed and lights, fans and is usually used on a triple sharing basis. We can equip anything as we like. Food quality is decent and all types of Veg and Non-veg items are available on the menu. Hostel rooms are highly affordable and big sized as well. Most look slightly old but provide a decent atmosphere for studying. The hostels are situated within the college campus.