Third Year… A transition from basic to clinical sciences

We were in third year now. Clinical ward rotations had started. Instead of useless dangling on my neck, I could now use my stethoscope to listen to heart sounds. Physicians practicing clinical medicine now taught us at patient’s bedside. We encountered some brilliant clinicians such as Prof Aziz of TBCD ward, Prof Mahmood Ali Malik of Medicine, Prof Rasheed Lakkar and Zafar Haider of Surgery. I also got a chance to brush up on my rusty Punjabi by communicating with patients. Finally, it started to feel like we are on the road to become doctors.

We also started studying pharmacology and pathology. We were the first class that Prof Bilquees Jamal taught in KE after her UNO job. Her lectures were interesting and her personality even more so. I still remember her description of the ‘muscarinic man’ illustrating the pharmacologic effects on acetylcholine on body. We also heard some good stories of her days at the UNO. We also heard some colorful Punjabi words and jokes.

Prof Zafar ul Aziz taught us Pathology. One day I decided to wear Shalwar Kameez to his lecture. Big mistake. He singled me out and had me approach the lectern. He wanted to know if I was son of a political figure. When I told him that my dad had served in the Pakistan Navy and had now retired he wanted to know why he had retired. I also remember that in our professionals, quite a few boys failed and none of the girls did. I found out why he was like that but that is another story.

With so much going on the third year went very fast. It was hard to believe that we surpassed the midpoint of our medical college. Soon, we would be real doctors.