TIRUCHY: Seeing an entire syllabus in a language you don’t know would be daunting. Tackling this as medical students might seem a herculean task. In an effort to bridge this gap, a group of doctors and nurses from Tamil Nadu have formed a WhatsApp group to help first-year MBBS students, who secured seats under the 7.5 per cent quota for government students, from Tamil-medium schools.
The doctors, who studied at government medical colleges and are in government service, formed ‘Tamilini Thunaivan’ based on their own college days. They were inspired by another group, Tamilini Pulanam, they formed three years ago to help de-stress.
“Students should realise language is not an obstacle,” said Dr VC Subhash Gandhi, Health Officer, Department of Public Health, and Assistant professor. “I came from a Tamil-medium school and really struggled initially at college,” he said.
‘Tamil not an obstacle; English just a tool’
“When every concept and word is in English, it becomes challenging. Some students get bogged down by this. Many from remote villages have secured admission through this quota. We want all of them to succeed so we formed this group to guide them, and solve their doubts,” he explained. One WhatsApp group was not enough as at least 291 students signed up.
Two groups were created with a total of 16 doctors, six teachers and three nurses to guide them. Uma Thiruvenkatam, a nursing teacher from Theni is the co-ordinator of the group. Dr Sarayu, retired Physiology professor, Dr Maheshwari, retired Anatomy professor, and Dr Nirmala, retired Biochemistry professor, Dr Damayanti (Physiology) from Karur, Dr Priya Kannan (Biochemistry), and Dr Soundarya (Anatomy) from Krishnagiri will take classes. Dr Damayanti has prepared a video explaining the cadaver in Tamil to help the students. The classes are held every Sunday morning for two hours.
One doctor will also be designated as mentor to 20 students. “Tamil is not an obstacle. English is just a tool, these students need to understand that. They just need to learn the medical terms. We have planned to teach basic fundamentals over the next three months,” another doctor said. “We formed the Tamilini Pulanam group because of our love for Tamil, and also as a stress-buster.
When we studied at Thanjavur Medical College, we used to write a weekly paper and stick it on the notice board. This is like an extension of that,” added Dr Gandhi. The group was also instrumental in providing online consultations for over 5,000 patients during the pandemic.