TSMU once again

The introduction

Studying at Tbilisi State Medical University is not easy or something. Getting there is not very easy either, of course, because you have to have good results on your national examinations to get into the Tbilisi State Medical University. Also, many people want to become doctors and they do many things to get there and have personal tutors for subjects that are important at the university and stuff like that. To be honest, I didn’t really know where I was going to get or what I was really going to do at that university, because I hadn’t checked anything about it. Of course, I went to their website, but it was kind of a mess and I didn’t really get what was written there and what my chosen faculty was offering us or things like that, I mean, I didn’t like their website so much that I couldn’t possibly be there for a long time and I just closed those tabs and went on to my living. The university itself is not very bad. However it still needs lots of things to be done to be good and they need to work harder to achieve much progress. However, they have some things that you might find interesting and that’s one of the good news, I guess.

About the university life

What’s really interesting is that you need to fight your way through everything to get any information about anything interesting and useful. It’s like they don’t want their students to be successful or have much potential or do something that will help in their career. I don’t know, if that’s just my opinion or not, but that’s how I feel. I mean, they have these internship programmes in foreign countries that  mostly happen in summer and some of them last two weeks, some of them even last more than one month and students are in some clinics and they get some practice and they see things there and, you know, they learn some new things and it’s really good for them, of course. The registration for those internships is from April to May or something like that and they say that they publish this information, but I haven’t seen any, so that’s really hard to get the information about the registration deadlines and sometimes it’s just an occasion when someone learns about it from someone and it’s like a day left or even not and they just rush into the office building to fill in the application and all the other stuff and it’s just really annoying. The network system in our university is a total bust. I mean, why must anyone need to go to the office building to fill in the application form for this summer internship when they can upload it somewhere and just fill the application there?! Am I not right? So, I guess, they just love when students go here and there and then wait for just a little thing for ages and stuff like that. That’s just horrible.

Let me tell you about my experience of applying to these summer internships and how it went and all the other stuff.

Summer internships

So, I knew about those summer internships, but when I went to the office building on my second year of studentship, they told me that going to Turkey was a good idea and I could apply for that, however I didn’t want to go to Turkey, so that I didn’t apply in any of the programmes that year, besides, they also recommended to wait for a year and go to summer internships the next year.

Well, the next year I didn’t get the information about the registrations and it was too late when I found out about it and it was really bad, but what I could do?!

So, this year I was really looking forward to the summer internships and I asked too much questions about it and when it would be announced and stuff like that and still, I did all that stuff in vain, because they always answered that there was not any internship deadlines announced and then some days earlier, I guess, two days earlier, someone from my friends told me that she was in the office building and she just heard somehow that the deadline was in two days and told me to hurry and get registered immediately  and I just went there to fill out the application, of course, because I was waiting for that for some months and it was really terrible that I still had to learn about it that way and I was really angry about those staff that work there and all the other ones, too, I guess. Of course, the filling out the application form was terrible, too. I was waiting for this guy to get free and go in and talk to him about the internship programmes, because there was not any information available for us anywhere and I had to ask around amongst the students about them and they didn’t give much of an answer and stuff like that, you know. So, everything was just dull around me and I didn’t like that, I mean, who likes that?! No one. So, after waiting for ages for this guy, finally the time came and I went in and there was this other girl, too, and she also wanted to register for summer internship and we went there together. Turned out that she didn’t really have much information about the summer internships either and we were on the same page. So we asked some things, you know, the usual things you ask about going abroad.

The very first thing was the countries where those internship programmes were and then we asked how long they lasted and what it cost and what were they offering and stuff like that and this guy had just about the same information as us, I guess, only a little bit more, I mean, he knew the cost of those programmes (approximately) and that’s it, I guess. So it was not really helpful at all. So that we just filled out those application forms, where we had to write our names and ID number and countries where we wanted to apply for the internships and some other things and then we had to write what languages we knew or if we knew Englishand then this guy had to kind of interview us and find out whether or not we really knew that language, so that this everything was a waste of time as a whole, if you ask me.

Well, finally I applied for the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and then Bulgaria, if you are interested. After all these procedures and the situation around I didn’t really had that excitement of going to any internship at all, if you want to know the truth.

There was this other thing, too. You had to have a language certificate in order you to be a validate candidate for the internships. I had this Cambridge certificate that I was given after advanced English classes in Cambridge, UKsome years ago and they told me that this certificate would do, so that I didn’t have to go on an examination. For your information, they do this language examination after registration deadline and students pay 35 or something Laris and take the test and then they are chosen by the results of that test. Some of my friends went there and took the test and they said that it was not easy or something like that, in fact, they said that the test was pretty difficult. Well, I don’t know that, I haven’t seen the test, of course.

So, I was now waiting for the answers or something like that and I was waiting for them to call me and tell me whether or not I could go on any internship. However, it didn’t happen as I expected at all. I mean, they announced a meeting for some countries to tell us about them and if we had any questions they would answer them. I guess, that kind of meeting should have been much earlier, I mean, it should have been until the deadlines would be for those internships and stuff like that. Anyways, they just talked some things about those few countries and what they offered and how many places they had for each country and each city and that was it. Despite the fact that there was this question where we should write our email address in the applications, not everyone who applied got the email telling them to go to the meeting and even those ones who got the email got it 2 hours before the meeting or something like that and I don’t even want to comment about that. Those kind of actions just kill me. Well , if you want to know the truth, I didn’t get the email and when my friend called me and told me that she got some email about going to the meeting and stuff like that, I asked her to write me the email address of that person who contacted her so that I would send an email and ask about me and whether or not I could go to that meeting or what was going on in general. So, when she told me the address , I sent an email and everything and didn’t get any answer at all. So I was not attending that information meeting and I just waited for my friends to attend the meeting and then tell me about it. Of course, when the meeting was finished we called each other and they told me what they said during the meeting and stuff. Turned out, we had to be in a list of where we wanted an internship and, again, we had to fill out an application or something like that. Some of my friends and I wanted to go to the Netherlands , so that we got in a list of that internship and then there was supposed to be a meeting of us and then we went to that meeting and this guy told us some things about the programme and stuff like that. There were 10 places as I knew on this programme and we were 11 there that day, so that I thought that just one was extra and one of us would be left out. Then he told us to come back a week later or something like that and that he would test us, I mean, we would have an exam in anatomy in English and to revise some anatomy and stuff like that. It was a really bad timing, because we had this final exam coming exactly on that day in dermatology and until that was Easter holidays and there are some traditions on Easter holidays, of course, and I thought that I would see my relatives which I hadn’t seen for a year or so and all these plans would just have to be ruined. But, hey, what could I do?! There was nothing we could do, but to get out of there and take anatomy books and start revising. And, at the same time, prepare for the dermatology final exam.

As you may have already guessed, my Easter holidays was a total bust, I mean, I had to do all that stuff and I couldn’t visit much my cousins or anyone in general. I didn’t really revise many things, though, if you want to know the truth. And I just had this feeling of kind of not wanting this internship or any internship at all.

Well, the day came to go to that meeting and see what would happen and stuff like that. We were ten then and I was relieved, because I know that there were ten places and so that I thought that we would all go and everything would be just great and all. Well, it turned out that two places were “already filled” so that seemed like we would have to be chosen and everything was just not okay, because we were all friends and stuff like that and we didn’t know who those two other guys were and I was really annoyed because of that, because I didn’t know that part and I didn’t know that there were only 8 places. And there should be only 6 chosen from us. So, he asked us some questions and the situation was not equal at all, if you want to know the truth for anyone, and it was not something I expected. He told me and two others that we were extra and we answered his questions more poorly than the others and we could be in a reserve team and we could come back on another day and he would ask us another questions again and stuff like that, you know, people tell you when they are trying to make themselves not feel bad for something that they did or had to do. Well, we told him that we would come back and he would have to ask us some questions. And he told us to come back another day or something like that , I don’t really remember. And I was all in anatomy books and stuff like that, however I knew that all that was in vain and I should have just not wasted time because of that.

The next day we went to him and it turned out that only I was attending the meeting amongst those 3 that were extra and he asked all of us some questions and the situation was the same, of course, and he told me that he would ask this guy who was the director of the programme to get another place for me, too, or maybe some other one would change his/her mind and then I would be in the team or maybe he wouldn’t go there and I would go there instead of him and all the other stuff. That was just all talking, of course. Well, that was my summer internship abroad. I knew, that I wouldn’t be able to go to Poland, because I had it listed on the second place and there were too many people who had it listed in the first place and they would go there. Turkey was also the first choice for many students and I didn’t want to go there or in Bulgaria. However, my brother _ who is also my groupmate at the Tbilisi State Medical University _ had chosen Bulgaria and he was going there and he told me that they had places available and I could go, but I told him that I didn’t want to go and so that I didn’t go there. Well, there were difference in programme length, too. The Netherlands programme was 2 weeks long and Poland was 2 or 3 weeks and Bulgaria was 3 weeks and Turkey was one month.

So, my summer plans had been changed at all. However, it was not that bad, because I knew that my sister would be here in Georgia and I would be here, too, so we would have some fun together. Besides, I could go and see some parts of Georgia and stuff like that, or do some things, like write these blogs and be part of this competition. However, I really wanted to see what the situation was in those clinics and what they did and what students learned there, because they were all satisfied and stuff like that and then they also got some certificates of internships and it would be really good for me, but it was a total bust, so I had to say good-bye to the internship. Well, of course, I could go to Bulgaria just for that certificate, and I don’t know, whether I did right or not by not going there, I mean, I guess, the certificate that I went on an internship would be great for my future career or something like that, I don’t know, I’m still thinking about it, but now what can I do, I already made this decision which I can’t change now even if I wanted to, so I just sit here and write my blogs.

Now, what I want to say is that if you are a Tbilisi State Medical University student and you want to do something, you really have to force it out of everyone, because otherwise they just sit there and don’t care anything at all. And there are probably many things available for students that I don’t know about them at all and I’m already a 5-th year student there, I mean, I start the 5-th year in September there. I wonder, what it will be like. I mean, it’s kind of unbelievable that I have 2 more years to study the bachelor and then I have to choose my future profession and take exams, which are pretty difficult and there are many students who take those exams and there is a tough competition and everything and that is pretty scary, if you want to know the truth. it’s really a great responsibility to be a doctor and, of course, I’m nervous about my future career, but I hope that I will become a good doctor and I won’t let people down. It’s also strange, that almost all my classmates now have  a bachelor’s degree, because their bachelor is 4 years long and they all had this graduation and hats throwing in the sky and all the pictures of them celebrating and stuff like that and I was just having my final exam in gynecology and clinical skills and that was really strange, if you want to know the truth. However, there’s nothing one can do, because I chose to study medicine and I know that I have to study and study. This is people’s lives we’re talking about here and it’s not something that doesn’t matter much or anything, of course.

Well, I have to study two more years at the university and then I have to become a resident. It’s called a residency here, you know. In that time, I just have one more chance of going on summer internships, because after ending the 6-th year, you don’t study at the university anymore and so that you are not a student and so that you can’t go on the internship, of course. So, next year I will choose more wisely my internships, I hope, and maybe I will go somewhere where I want to go, I mean, as I’ve mentioned already, I could have gone to Bulgaria, but I didn’t really want to go there, so I didn’t go and now I hope that there will be a place for me in that country where I will want to have an internship. Let’s see what happens. Until that, I have to study my 5-th year at the university and study those subjects and stuff like that and then when the second semester comes _ that is in spring _ there will be some announcements about those internships, I hope, and I guess, I won’t pass the deadline and I will fill out the application form and I will be chosen on that one that I want.

To be honest, I had some plans to revise some anatomy stuffand some medical stuff that we learned, as a whole, but I haven’t done much, because I just felt how tiring the whole year has been with all that going to clinics and studying stuff and all the other things.

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