24/11/2022
Circa 2002 : When I walked into my college Principal ,Prof Bhasker Rao's office, I chanced upon a photograph of his graduation ceremony at the Royal College of Surgeons; which sparked a desire in me to do it someday .
Twenty years later in 2022, I decided to crack the M Endo RCS , Edinburgh exam . This exam was different from my earlier exams in many ways. For starters , there were no classmates who I could compete with . The syllabus was very abstract . As I dragged my suitcase alone , outside the hotel that I stayed in Edinburgh, there was an element of uncertainty lurking around everything to follow the next few days.
As I finished two papers of theory on day 1 and stepped outside the iconic Surgeon's Hall, there I could see the procession of the late Queen Elizabeth pass by right in front of me on it's way to St Giles.
" Why are you giving this exam?" many asked. " Do you intend to move as a specialist to the UK ? "
"No, just a professional milestone "I replied.
Two months later, I am delighted to recieve the good news of clearing the exam , one of the first few resident Indian Endodontists to do so, in the first attempt.
Gratitude to my teachers , my colleagues who have laid the strong foundation of knowledge. It indeed was the cumulative endodontic experience of 20 years that helped me through this exam .
God and my Gurus have been kind.
Photo of me , taken today post work outside dr Kamalpreet Wasir's Dental office in Panchsheel Park, New Delhi.