The Beginning Of The End.

…So, lectures began on the 18th of February. Yaaaay, I was so excited. And just like you guessed, I plunged in- spirit, soul and body to run the final lap, my eyes fixed on the goal.

Then a week later, our schedule for the continuation of our special posting in medicine was released and, ouch, What’s happening here??

This posting is supposed to be for two months, one of which we had already done pre-covid. So adding the 1 week we have just done, we are supposed to be left with 3 weeks, but this schedule says we have six weeks left. Really? Apparently, they had added the two weeks of ASUU warning strike which occurred just before we were sent home on account of the pandemic, a two-week period that we still had lectures like nothing happened.

I suddenly felt weakness all over my body. My insides screamed for help, trying to burst out. You may be wondering why, so let me break it down for you.

By this schedule, we are to finish this posting on the 26th of March. Then we have a month of community diagnosis, two months of special posting in surgery (ENT, ophthalmology, radiology and anaesthesiology), then four months of M3S3, after which we’ll have revision, mock and the final exam proper(not even considering the time it’d take to write the end-of-posting examinations).This means our final exams will most likely be in November, can spill into December and January due to other circumstances.

So, they want to push my graduation into 2022??

As I type, this is my ninth year in school. Now they want to make it ten?

Now you understand why I felt the way I did, and still do.
We are making efforts to see that this error is corrected, and we are able to salvage a little more time for the class, so that we can graduate this year.

Well, good news, my project proposal came back with some corrections still. But I’m optimistic that when we submit the corrected document, we’ll be given permission to go into the field.
Though these corrections are so much, even full stops(to delete or include). Hmmm!

I just can’t get all of this out of my head
I really can’t wait to be done with all this.

Also, we started hearing some news that the centralised house-job posting by MDCAN has begun. Well, I don’t really have a problem with that, I think I can work anywhere I’m posted to. The worry is in the additional gist, which says that house officers are now to be paid N86000. There are so many versions to this gist; some say that it’s just in a few hospitals who didn’t have enough to pay their interns(house officers), others say it’s in a bid to unify the salary for house officers and I’m like, then why on earth can’t it be unified to N200000, since most hospitals already pay between N150000 to N220000?

Anyway, I just hope it’s a big rumour because I can’t imagine that after all this emotional, physical, psychological and mental stress, I get to go home with N86000.
Also not forgetting the fact that some house officers are or have been married, have families to cater for. And those who aren’t married yet still have a whole lot of responsibility waiting for them and a lot of plans they’ve made to better their lives, and we know how expensive medical exams can be.

May God help us.
It gets harder by the day, but I’m sure I’ll pull through.

Have a beautiful Wednesday.