the truth about Sri Ramachandra Medical College

To all those who really want the truth,
I don't know what part of the SRMC College Mr.Souvik Sen attends, but it’s not a true description of SRMC & RI in my opinion. For those students who have interest in medicine from the USA, this is not the college for you if you ask me. I joined SRMC straight out of high school under impression how different can college in India be. I was certainly in for a shock.
In this message I plan on setting the truth straight on many topics for those who need to know the truth, so they don't make the same mistake that I have

1. grading system
 - The biggest difference between the academic world of the USA and India is that in India all grading is subjective. This means that regardless how correct an individual may be, it does not matter because it is left to the subjectivity of the professor grading your paper.
- ex. - in my first year of college the first examination I had was call an internal examination ( the portions being a whole system within the body) the exam has 10 questions(2 essays(15 pts each) and 8 short notes(5 pts each) and 30 multiple choice questions(MCQ's, 1 pt each). After receiving my score I felt I had been wronged in terms of the grading. I was then informed of the most outrageous information. the professor told me that even though I had written the right answer, the most points a student could get was 4 pts out of 5 pts short noteand with an essay the most being 13 pts out of 15 pts. When I asked why I was told that there is no way that I could have written a perfect answer (or that matter any student). I was very confused by this method of grading. So if you look at the whole out of a possible 100 pts one is being graded out of, the highest you could get is 88 pts. in order to pass any exam in India one must get 50% or higher. If you are confused by this, don’t worry I still am as well

2. Quality of education
 -For students from the USA, all of you (as did I) will realize how spoiled you were to have the teachers you did in high school. I can not comment on the quality of education in an American college as I have not attended one. NONE of the professors in SRMC have degrees in teaching at all. Don’t get me wrong now, the professors are all very smart and knowledgeable but outside of a select few none of them have a clue on how to teach a class. A majority of them don’t even teach, they just copy the text book on to an overhead projection and read it out loud. I don’t know about you but I could do same thing and I don’t consider myself a professor( to think I paid all that money for this caliber of teaching)
 -In my personal opinion I have not learned a damn thing from my professors in SRMC. All the studying & learning done was by me on my own in my room. The people who helped me the most would have to be the students that were senior to me. Without them I have no clue how I would made out med school in India
 -Now I know all of the students from the USA are a bit pampered in the sense they have not had to deal with extreme weather conditions. I struggled the first couple of years with the heat in India. And NO the classrooms were not air conditioned. All a fan does is rotate hot stale air. But for those who choose not to heed this warning you are in luck as SRMC has just recently air conditioned a majority of its classrooms. But when you hit your clinical years, touch luck, the hospital is not air conditioned.
 -oh yeah, on a odd note, all the guys sit on one side of the class room and girls sit on the other (just weird)
3. student rights
 -As this may not seem to be an important topic while thinking about what college you are going to attend. When it comes to SRMC it REALLY matters.
 -Since the college is a ‘deemed’ university, they have total autonomy over everything and I mean everything.
-Examples
-The college looks down upon students who relationships with the opposite sex and it has long been felt that students have been failed for this reason (remember grading system is subjective)
-There is a curfew for all students regardless of age (doesn’t matter if you have an undergraduate degree, they don’t care). This is if you stay on campus
-If a professor decides to pick on you in class or on rounds, you will have to swallow your pride, because if you respond back you can guarantee that you will be failed on purpose (this is a fact). And when I say picked on, I mean I been dogged just for the fact I am from USA , nothing else (words cannot do justice to my displeasure)
-By the end of your tenure in SRMC you will learn, in order to get through college in India, you better leave your pride at home and work on your brown nosing skills
 -Just to make things clear – ‘YOU AS A STUDENT IN SRMC HAVE NO RIGHTS’
4. occupancy
 -there are no co-ed dorms for any you that had other plans
 -If you are a male student that stays in the hostel (the Indian terminology for dorms) there are no TV’s. there are TV rooms which are not air conditioned and are very uncomfortable for one to watch TV
 -Female students have TV’s in their own rooms, but their room size is considerably smaller
 -Each NRI has their own room, with its own bathroom and air conditioning facilities
-This means you must buy your own A/C and have it installed
-You are given a desk, a cot, and metal closet
 -If you live in the hostel that usually means the majority of the food you will be eating is on campus.
-In order to eat at the NRI mess, one must walk about a half a mile each way (this is if you don’t have bike or a car)
-The food served at NRI mess if not even fit for a animal to eat, let alone it be a human
 -In order to get to college from the hostel you must walk about three quarters of a mile (no transport will provided for you regardless of weather conditions(try walking to class during monsoon season))
5. outlets
 -beside basketball and weight lifting there are no real outlets for NRI students on campus available on daily basis, so get ready to bored out of your mind(literally); and for females there are really no outlets period.
-In end the reason I write this as a message of good will. I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through just because they didn’t know. Going to college in SRMC is not cheap, it cost me $100,000 dollars up front cash. The only saving grace of SRMC is that I have met a lot good people that I expect to be my friends for life, but truth be told if I had a chance to do it again there is no way in hell would I go to SRMC knowing what I know now. Once again this is not to discredit what Mr.Souvik Sen has said his messages, that is if you don’t mind all the things that I have just explained above. Any questions email me at [email protected]

rxgal8 said:

WOW...I know I wouldn't have survived. It probably takes a lot of compromising and determination to get through due to some of the obvious cultural and educational differences between US and India. Are you doing your residency in US now?

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in response to your question i am currently in the process of taking my board exams

AMMD said:

why are you guys going to India for Med school? Are you sure you have exhausted all the opportunities to attend med school here in the states first?

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its not so much that we have exhausted every oppurtunity in the states, rather it takes to long in the states. you have do an undergraduate, then MCAT, then medschool along with boards. all these steps cause massive amounts of cash in total and close to 8-10 yrs of time. in india, u can skip undergraduate, the MCAT and go straight to med school. also it is much easier on the pocket in the long run.

sunny123 said:

^ And in India, there isn't a lot of backstabbing amongst classmates?

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no there is a lot of backstabbing in India... this includes NRI's and local students

retroviridae said:

ok harvard of India??? I think there are brokers for SRMC on this website. Please take their praise with a grain of salt. I had never heard of this med school before seeing this thread (but I am not from TN either). Best school in Chennai is Stanley isn't it? Anyway ...

as far as the "negative and subjective treatment" of students is concerned, this is a fact of life in the Indian medical system. But, do not stress too much about it. People who say they are failed just for looking funny at the prof usually are not the best of students. If you do what you are supposed to do, know what you are supposed to know, you will be fine. Just use common sense. Indian exams are wrote memorization ... if you can regurgitate the points the examiner asks, you will get good marks. Memorization at this level is different (most likely) from what you have done before. You can't spend the night before the exam memorizing and expect to do well. To memorize at this level require time. If you spend the time studying, you will do fine. I would also recommend reading Indian text books. US/British texts are great, but they will not point out what points you need to know for an Indian exam. Do well on your internal (sessional) exams. These are easier than your finals, and will give you a good reputation come exam time.

Don't talk back to Indian teachers. Be polite, say yes sir, no sir, thank you madame, etc. Stand up when you see them. It is much more regimental than in the US. Here, profs are your buddies, in India, remember teachers and parents earn the same level of respect ... even if they don't deserve it. Dress appropriately for class/clinics. I mean, these are little things that shouldn't matter, but do. But again, if you know your stuff cold, you will be fine. I found many americans who come to India end up enjoying life way too much. I mean, just keep in mind that this is medical school, and you will be fine. There is a negative stigma to NRIs studying in India from Indian faculty (probably not so much at this school which seems to cater to NRIs), so you overcome that by being as good a student as you can be (try to be above avg.) It's the same thing when you come back to the US. There is a stigma against foreign docs. You have to work a bit harder to overcome it, but it can be overcome.

Enjoy India!

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for the most part retroviridae is right in terms about how things work in med school in india. i dont totally agree to of the things retroviridae says but it can be different slightly from college to college as my experiences are limited to SRMC. as for the quote ''Be polite, say yes sir, no sir, thank you madame, etc. Stand up when you see them. It is much more regimental than in the US. Here, profs are your buddies, in India, remember teachers and parents earn the same level of respect ... even if they don't deserve it." , it is the truth, but doesn't it strike anyone a bit over the top. my whole life i've been told respect is a 2 way street. the professors act like we owe them respect because they are tryin' to teach us medicine. F@$k that! all private colleges make you pay a lot of money for that education. if you paid for your education, you dont anyone anymore respect than u receive. every student who has attended med school in india from a foriegn nation realizes this. but why hasn't anybody done anything about this. simple, no one is willing to risk getting failed for speaking their mind(and by this, i dont mean throwing a temper tantrum, i mean voicing their perspective in a calm and proper way at the right time in private). if one fears to speak his/her mind due fear of consequence, then it fair to say that one has no rights.

as for the Harvard and SRMC connection, here's the real deal. SRMC is affliated with Harvard. to what extent this affliation is only god knows. i do know is Harvard and SRMC are trying to set up an exchange program for medical students. and during my stay at SRMC i did get to meet the principal of Harvard medical college as he and some of his affliates from boston came and visited SRMC

Suriya said:

Truth Betold!!! THANK U SO MUCH FOR THE INFO!!! cool But I'm probably still gonna end up going there though, because I just have to. I just have a few questions about SRMC.

The Grading System thing is astonishing, not in a good way obviously!! So if the prof doesn't like u for some reason, then he could just fail u, and u have to deal with it???

Are the seniors willing to help u out when u ask for help? Or is some brown-nosing involved in the process?

/////-If a professor decides to pick on you in class or on rounds, you will have to swallow your pride, because if you respond back you can guarantee that you will be failed on purpose (this is a fact)./////
How do they ridicule a student. Like throwing things at them, or just insulting them by calling them stupid etc.

/////there are TV rooms which are not air conditioned and are very uncomfortable for one to watch TV//// I hear that u don't have time to watch TV's or do anything when ur doing medicine in India though. Isn't it always just study, study study?


/////-there are no co-ed dorms for any you that had other plans/////
awww... just kidding. That's a given considering Indian Culture.

/////beside basketball and weight lifting there are no real outlets for NRI students on campus available on daily basis, so get ready to bored out of your mind(literally)/////

I hear that one doesn't have time to get bored, because they are bombarded with work though. Is that true?

What do u mean backstabbing?

Please answer these questions, I'm dying to know, it would help me a great deal when I do go.

Regards. cool

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glad to be of help.
in regards to your questions
1. The Grading System thing is astonishing, not in a good way obviously!! So if the prof doesn't like u for some reason, then he could just fail u, and u have to deal with it???
-yes this is true and in SRMC you can not do anything about it because it is a 'deemed college' meaning that it sets its own exams and grades them. as professor not liking u for some reason, your stay in SRMC will test your ability to kiss a$$ and stay low key & in good regards

2. Are the seniors willing to help u out when u ask for help? Or is some brown-nosing involved in the process?
- seniors are usually very nice and willing almost always to help out. if u are NRI, the NRI seniors will help u with no need of brown nosing. if u are a local student, the local seniors will help u as well, but u will need to call your seniors sir and maam accordingly

3. How do professors ridicule a student? Like throwing things at them, or just insulting them by calling them stupid etc.
- just insults basically.

4. I hear that one doesn't have time to get bored, because they are bombarded with work though. Is that true?
- this basically depends what kind of student you are. if you are the type of student that needs to study everyday for 'x' amount hours to complete your material in order to be ready for exam, then u wont have a lot of time. but if you are like me who tends cram the last couple of nights and that works better for u, then you will have more time. but regardless, first year of med school in india - some time off here and there in the first six months, the second six months there is no time off. second year and third year are cruise control- too much time off. final year there is no time off period.

5. What do u mean backstabbing?
- funny that u would ask this question. when i first got to med school in india i had heard stories of backstabbing but didn't believe them. i was like who does that kind of stuff. was i in for a surprise. when i say 'backstabbing' i mean following:
example - i went and asked another student for the portions i had to study for the upcoming internal exam. the student told study part A and part B in the book. i then proceeded to ask the student if we needed to study part C for the exam. the student told me not to waste my time because it wasn't on the exam. come exam day, i find exam loaded with questions about part C. the day results are posted i find that the student i had asked about what material to study had done well and i had failed. this is the type of backstabbing that goes on.

hope all of this information helps.

what NYer said is wonderful and all, but for those of us that live in real world think again. the guy gave his med books names of girls. who does that sh-t? maybe he made love to them too and now the pages stuck together. for the most part in my opinion its bunch of flowery b.s.

meetlife said:

???????

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means exactly what it says

newyorker said:

Some Truth Nottobetold.

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real original....find it hard to believe that was the best u could do, considering all the names u must handed out for your text books