I:

Come on! You can tell me. I am the Head of my department, and I wish to improve your education, if required. For that I need to find out what is wrong with it.

( They still did not answer. Perhaps they did not expect this sort of behavior from a Head of Department. Perhaps they were content with the things as they were and did not want a change. Perhaps they were afraid of telling.)

I:

Don't be afraid of telling me. I wish to harm anyone. Even if I wanted to, I cannot make out who is who in this dim light. And I am never your examiner in finals. So I cannot take it out on you there. Go ahead, tell me what you think is wrong with the system.

(That seemed to do the trick. Some of them opened up.)

Student A:

There are too many lectures. Can't the lectures be cut down to 25% the current number?

(That sounded like reducing the number to the actual number they attended. With that change their attendance would go to 100%. It was a brilliant idea. But then there was the risk of they attending 25% of the cut down series too.)

I:

Hmm...., but the University wants us to teach you for 300 hours. You will have to appeal to the University to bring about a reduction. Any other suggestion?

Student B:

The lectures are very boring.

I:

I agree  But then Medicine is boring. Harrison's Medicine was the most boring book I came across in my life. But I read it. I did not substitute it with Tom Clancy. If you did not want boredom, you should have selected a more interesting line like fashion designing or acting.

Student B:

No, what I mean is that the teachers' lectures are boring. Just talk, talk, talk.

I:

Why, don' they show slides or OHPs?

Student B:

Oh, they do. But they just read the slides aloud. That even we can do.

(There seemed nothing wrong with reading the slides out, so long as they contained stuff. Student B seemed to not realize that the teachers collected a lot of information from many sources and then put it in the slides.)

I:

But the slides are not for you to read. They are for the teacher to make sure that no point is missed. There are visuals for you to see and learn from, such as specimen or patient pictures, radiographs etc.

Student B:

Well, sometimes there are some visuals, and they are OK. But the teachers are boring. They should be taught how to hold the students' attention.

(It was my usual practice to tell the students some funny stories related to the topic, or crack a couple of small jokes, just to make things interesting. It seemed it was not enough. I made a mental note to try to find more methods of entertaining them while I taught them the subject I loved but they found boring.)

I:

Well, actually we do have a Medical Education Technology Cell in this College. It teaches the medical teachers how to teach. I will tell the Cell about this. Any other suggestion?

Student C:

This sort of classroom teaching is not god. Can't we have small groups of 5 or 6 students at a time being taught by one teacher?

I:

Well, there are different methods of teaching. Some topics have to be taught as didactic lectures in a class of a large number of students. Some topics are better taught in small interactive groups. We do that in your clinical postings, putting 8 or 9 students in one batch.

(Student C did not say anything after this, nor did anyone else. Retrospectively thinking, I missed the point totally at that time. Perhaps student C wanted didactic lectures delivered in small groups, as in private group tuition. Well, we do not have enough teachers to do small group tuitions for 180 students.)

I:

Does anyone else want to say anything else?

Student D:

I prefer to do self-study. Unless the professor is known to be extraordinarily good, I don't take notes.

(This was quite hurting. It stated that we were not extraordinarily good. All our efforts in reaching where we had reached in this prime institute were wasted. I couldn't complain, because I had asked for their candid opinions, and they had trusted me. What I couldn't understand was where they would find the time to do an exhaustive self-study of all topics, provided they knew what to read. They had so many subjects, very tight schedules, time wasted in compulsory attendance, and many other things to do. Self-study probably meant study of a small UG level book per subject. I doubted if student D knew that the teachers read a number of books, journals, research papers, and add3ed to that their years of experience. But I let it pass.)

I:

Well that is very nice. But I know that in the 10^th and 12^th standards a large majority of students get education in private classes and group or individual tuitions, where a lot of spoon-feeding is done. I wonder how the same students will switch to self-study after joining a medical college, and how effective that will be. Anyway, if you all have managed that, I am very happy.

(They did not say anything in response to that.)

I:

Is it that you just have to pass 3^rd M.B.B.S. With just 50% marks, and your future education depends on your performance in postgraduate CET? In that case one can understand your lack of interest in these lectures.

(They kept quiet. That one was my version of their reason for not attending lectures as required. I would have loved to have them confirm it, but they wouldn't oblige.)

I:

It is not that? Well,any other reason?

Student E:

Sir, we are in third first. We have a University exam of other subjects like ENT and Ophthal this year. Rather that wasting time now, we would attend these lectures when you give us 'repeat' lectures after the regular series. That is convenient.

(That made sense. What hurt was that they seemed to take for granted that  their teachers would overwork taking repeat lectures for them, when that was totally preventable.)

I:

And what if there is no repeat lecture series?

(They kept quiet. They knew that repeat lectures were always arranged. They also knew that students' forms were always sent for the final exam, and no student was prevented from appearing for the exam on account of inadequate attendance. I knew they knew, because some of them had told one my colleague all this in so many words.)

Student F:

Sir, we have actually conducted a survey of students' opinions on this subject. The data are being analyzed at present and the result should be ready in about a week.

(This was wonderful. I couldn't let that one go.)

I:

Well, you can send the result to the Academic Committee. I myself am a member of the Academic Committee. You can give me a copy of the result, or you can drop it in the suggestion box outside my office. Then I will see what can be done.

Student F:

Yes, sir.