Well, those days are looming around when you have to finally give a go to decide a career. In the life of a pre-medical student, these days come right after taking their 2nd year exams. For some, these questions pop up even before, and these should for the want of a good answer. Among the career options we have, one is going to Pakistan Army and becoming an MBBS doctor in army i.e. a captain doctor whose ranks are amplified over the course of years.
But what are the benefits and harms of choosing this career?
Here they are:
PROS:
1. A very good pay: a medical cadet gets 35k PKR throughout his mbbs. This is called a monthly stipend. Cool? Yes. He doesnt have to live on his parents' expenses and he can even afford stuff he couldnt before.
2. Life under the standards set by Pakistan Army: Disciplined and with outstanding protocol.
3. An opportunity to live in Lahore or Rawalpindi. Obviously, government medical colleges in Punjab have a considerably high merit especially those in Lahore and Rawalapindi. But there it is: Army Medical College, Rawalpindi and CMH Lahore offering you the opportunity to study in these cities with far better chances of acceptance; because their criterion for acceptance is not an MDCAT but an intelligence test, and an even important interview, in addition to minor criteria of FSc marks and physical abilities.
4. A glittering uniform! Well something to boast of, something to be proud of and something to strive for!
5. Obviously your chances of MBBS in Pakistan are increased because the merit in Government medical colleges is very high on the surge.
6. Close friendships: Psychologists say a friendship that lasts 5 years is most likely to last for a lifetime. A culture of getting together, doing drills together, eating together, praying and playing together, in short living together (10 roommates) makes you live and breathe together for a lifetime.
CONS:
1. A strict army life. I.e. you have to stay away from your home, during your studies. Only exception is a tight schedule of vacations. Even after your studies, you can be and “you are” posted to far flung areas throughout Pakistan: Waziristan, Kakul, Quetta, Mardan to name a few. And your 1st and 2nd home is Pakistan Army.
2. Tight pay: Yes, as compared to civil doctors, doctors in army earn comparatively less. They have to depend very much on their pay because the concept of private practice in army is a bit different. As a medical officer, you dont do private practice. And as a specialist, you do private practice but that with limited money, because half your fee (which in itself is comparatively less as compared to civil doctors) goes to Pakistan Army funds. So if you aim to earn lots of money in your life as a doctor, Pakistan Army is not that much opportunistic. Obviously, a civil doctor is safer in that prospect.
3. 5 months of tough Physical training: After completion of studies of MBBS, you have to go for a 5 month training in Kakul. That is a physical exam, restless sleeps of just a couple of hours, no contacts with family or friends, tough challenges, lots of sleepless nights, lots of drills etc.
4. You can't leave Army easily once you are a part of it. It is because of 2 reasons. One, you dont want to. Because what else would you do? And where else would you go? You also have a sort of emotional attachment wih the Army. Two, you can't. With heavy sums to pay, it is almost impractical and impossible to leave.
5. Consider it a pro or a con, it's up to you. Zero-cut!
6. Due to their tough schedules of drills, less hospital affliation time, lesser time and patients to practice on, more peripheral service with lesser technology use, doctors in army are generally considered less able and proficient as compared to civil doctors. Obviously this scale is just a rough estimate of general groups, individual exceptions do exist. If you want to earn a big name in a particular area as a doctor, Army is not the right place.
7. Some of your precious days of MDCAT preparation are doomed to be surfed in the strive for army tests: intelligence, physical, initial medical, and so on. So better make an arrangement to make up for loss of your precious time and pre-plan some prospects.
So what are you waiting for?
It is the right time to go for it. Be a medical cadet and then a captain doctor.
Applications are open, but not for long.
For application:
www.joinpakarmy.gov.pk
