Dr Sunita Kumari and Dr Reeha Mahajan
“The core of education is the relationship between the teacher and the student, and the extent to which that relationship nurtures the longing of the student to matter in the world, and the longing of the teacher to nurture and fulfil that desire.”
-Timothy Shriver and Jennifer Buffet
AIIMS Jammu idealises the ‘Trinity of Mission’ – Training, Patient Care & Research. According to a survey conducted by India Today, MBBS is the toughest course requiring National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) conducted by the National Testing Agency, which is extremely difficult, with lakhs of aspirants competing for a restricted number of seats. Themedical curriculum is very challenging requiring students to acquire a vast amount of information, expertise and skills. After struggling hard and getting selected in MBBS course, the students are in an ambivalent situation, as on one hand, they are in aneased frame of mind and on the other hand, theybear the brunt of the tough academic medical curriculum. Apart from this,many students face issues related to homesickness, time management, changed food habits and climate for students belonging to other regions of the country, etc.The role of medical teachers is very pertinent for the medical students to thrive and flourish in these adverse circumstances as they are instrumental in providing a motivating, helpful, warm, and supportive learning atmosphere for learners.
The understanding and bondingof teachers with their students is of utmost importance. The students having a healthystudent-teacher relationship, can cope phenomenally well, with emotionally unstable situations which contributes to the development of refined academic skills as well as socio-emotional and behavioural skills, which acts asa predictor of students’ academic performance.
The faculty development programmes conducted at AIIMS Jammu for all medical teachers are aimed at fostering substantial student-centric approach for medical training which is vital forholistic development of students, their socio-emotional aptitude and personalassociations with colleagues and teachers. These relationships have a significant impact on student’s motivation to learnand development of their cognitive skills. Taking these facts into consideration, medical teachers at AIIMS Jammu are approachable, supportive, encouraging, and take a personal interest in the lives of students. The faculty of AIIMS Jammu respects the individuality of students, as per the principles of ancient Vedic Education, which aims at developing will-power and preparing the humans to live the highest quality of life in all circumstances. The individual approach helps the educator to effectively identify the type, persona, and condition of thestudent and the studentbecomes more focussed and the process of learning becomes smoother.
Medical training at AIIMS Jammu looks after the academic, physical, social and mental growth of its stakeholders, meticulously, by providing various opportunities to its students right from the beginning in the form of foundation course, mentor-mentee scheme, promotion of extra-curricular activities, excellent residential facilities, cafeteria, guest house, state-of-the-art library and sports facilities etc.
Foundation course is a great initiative taken by National Medical Commission (NMC) in the interest of the students which takes care of their physical, mental and social well-being in addition to the MBBS course orientation classes. The students are in a very vulnerable phase of life during the initial few weeks of joining the MBBS course as they come out of the cocoon,where they were guarded by their parents, grandparents, and elder siblings. The lectures in the orientation classes, include deliberations on important aspects of life,such as, stress management, time management, nutrition, attitude, ethics and communication skills etc.,which help them in gradually acclimatizing with the changes happening in the transition period.
Mentor-Mentee scheme: The aim of this programme is to develop anexceptional relationship between the mentee and the mentor, so that the mentor can play the role of a counsellor, guideand first-level problemsolver for the mentee. The mentor-mentee meets are scheduled at regular intervals to support this programme.
Benefits of mentoring
- Encouragement, empowerment, confidence building and personal development ofmentees.
- Helping mentees in identification and achievement of career goals.
- Helping mentees in identification and correction of gaps in generic skills and knowledge.
- Developing and maintaining a broader prospective of career options and opportunities.
- Having access to a senior role model anytime and anywhere.
The students are provided round-the-clock psychological support by the psychiatrists of AIIMS Jammu, keeping in view their fragile physiological state of mind.
Extra-Curricular Activities
AIIMS Jammu regularly organises extra-curricular activities for its students as they help in promoting learning outside the classroom and offer opportunities to learn specific skills. They also boost confidence, expressiveness and enhance multitasking abilities. These activities include academic quiz, rangoli, poster, model-making and sports competitions. The winners of the various competitions are awarded with prizes and all participants are given certificates of participation. The students are also encouraged to spread health awareness through skits, role plays and theatre activities, which boosts their confidence and public speaking skills.
Apart from this, the students areprovided entertainment facilities in the form of cultural programmes,patriotic movie shows on national holidays and medical inter-college fests such as PULSE etc. They are also motivated to participate in intercollege fests in collaboration with other institutes of national importance (IIT Jammu and IIIM Jammu etc.) to enhance their overall personality development.
Residential Facilities
The students at AIIMS Jammu are provided congenial residential atmosphere within the campus as it is directly linked with their academic performance. The facilities include clean, spacious and well-ventilated rooms, clean and safe drinking water, apart from many others. The students can purchase items of daily use at subsidized and reasonable prices within the campus. There is also provision of ATM facility for the convenience of students.
Cafeteria Facility
The students are provided clean, safe and nutritious food in the cafeteria located within the academic block near the lecture theatres, which is indispensable for their overall physical and mental well-being. The menu offers a variety of food options for catering to the needs of all students coming to AIIMS Jammu from various parts of the country.
State-of-the-Art Library
The students at AIIMS Jammu are bestowed with state-of-the-art fully air-conditioned library extending on two floors which are well connected with each other. The library is fully digital and students have access to all kinds of E-books, E-journals, Learning Management Information System (LMIS) platforms which can be retrieved 24×7 at their ease. Apart from this, there are sound-proof discussion rooms so that students can discuss their projects, seminars and journal clubs without disturbing the others.
State-of-the-Art Sports Complex
AIIMS Jammu believes in the holistic well-being of its students which is incomplete without their physical development. Various measures are being taken in this regard to satisfy the requirements of students, which includes development of facilities for indoor and outdoor games in its lush green campus.
State-of-the-art lecture theatres
AIIMS Jammu offers smart lecture theatres to its students, which are fully air-conditioned and equipped with latest audio-visual aids.The lecture theatres have sound-proof walls, comfortable seats with individual electric points for using E-learning methods of learning. They are provided with fourdoors, two in front and two behind, taking into account the safety of students in case of any untoward incident such as fire etc. There are fire alarms in each lecture theatre. Also, power back up is provided in all lecture theatres for uninterrupted electric supply for smooth conduction of classes. The medical teachers at AIIMS Jammu are quite tech savvy and abreast with latest technology to meet the needs of its students. There is a strong support by IT team, which acts like an “Icing on the cake” for medical faculty as well as students.
Intramural and Extramural research activities
The administration and academic section at AIIMS Jammu emphasise the importance of research in medical profession. The training for research starts in the very beginning of the MBBS course, where the students are encouraged to attend the research methodology workshops and submit research proposals to various national funding agencies of repute such as, Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR), Department of Biotechnology(DBT), Department of Science and Technology(DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial research(CSIR), Science and Engineering Research Board(SERB) etc.
The MBBS students are encouraged to submit proposals in the ICMR- Short-term Studentship (STS) program as well. The medical faculty are guiding the students sincerely and the institute has provision for allocation of funds to students for pursuing various research activities, approved by the institutional research and ethics committee.
Jammu is becoming an educational hub with a trio of institutes of national importance (AIIMS, IIT, IIIM), functional in letter and spirit for the furtherance of the people of Jammu, its neighbouring regions and the country as a whole.
AIIMS Jammu is thriving hard to contribute for academic excellence in the field of medical education by developing a student- centric approach of teaching.
AIIMS Jammu is truly an epitome of prodigious Student-Teacher relationship!!
(Dr Sunita Kumari is Assistant Professor in the department of Physiology & Dr Reeha Mahajan is Associate Professor in the department of Anatomy, AIIMS Jammu)
