Medicine is undoubtedly one of the most passionately pursued professions in our country, but is not easy to get into. From as young as being school, children aspire to be a doctor, but many don’t understand the challenges involved.
In a bid to help youngsters understand the profession even better, ‘The Young Doctors’ camp’ was organised by Yashoda hospitals, providing a rare opportunity to school children to spend time with doctors and gain practical knowledge in the field.
The camp, which has been a regular feature for the last three years, was conducted over four days where children were encouraged to understand the profession better.
Around 80 school children from 2500 applicants were selected from cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, besides Hyderabad.
At the camp, students got a chance to see live surgeries and surgical machines in operation. To further fuel their aspirations, they were given a kit which came with their very own doctor’s apron. Doctors from different departments of the Yashoda hospitals were on call to mentor the students. Screening of videos of surgeries and quiz competitions were organised to improve the participants knowledge. Children were also allowed to visit the diagnostic, in-patient, pharmacy and operation theatres to see the day-to-day operations.
Explaining the idea behind the workshop, GS Rao, managing director of Yashoda group of hospitals said, “Before choosing this profession, people should know how exactly doctors work. They should see some tough situations in the profession. Providing them the practical exposure is the main intention of the camp.”
Parents of the children were also pleased with the initiative. For some, the four days actually seemed like a shorter tenure. “This is really a great idea. But it would have been better if the camp was extended for few more days. I hope next time it will be a one week camp instead of four days,” said Deepti, one of the parents attending the concluding sessions of the workshop.
Students seemed happy to be a part of the camp. “This is a great chance to be the part of this program. The mentors explained everything in detail. I got to see live surgeries which I have never seen before. I also learned how various departments of the hospital work. After the camp I have decided to become a doctor,” said Gayarti Reddy, one of the participants.
The camp came to an end at the hospital on Friday with students receiving a participatory certificate.