Interview With Senior Resident INTERVIEW WITH SENIOR RESIDENT

I am a curious character and having an appetite for academic award and excellence. I am one of the luckiest person out of thousands and lakhs because I got the opportunity to help people, heal and treat them.

I'm loving myself and this process continues forever, no one can ever stop learning. Study hard, do your work honestly, keep working hard it will pay you back. Mantra of life is always stay calm. Be honest to your profession and yourself. Continue doing what you love to do and live your dream and be a great Dermatologist. Stay humble to your juniors, respect your seniors. Work hard, take care of your health. There is no better job satisfaction in this world when you can make a sad patient happy. When you can bring smile to someone's face or when you can cure their symptoms and make their life happy and healthy.

1. Introduce yourself

I am Dr. Ratnakar Shukla. I recently completed my post-graduation MD in Dermatology in June 2020, and currently I am working as a Senior Resident at AIIMS and I have a passion for academic excellence and interest in aesthetic and procedural Dermatology and love other extracurricular activities as well, including poetry, various sports and cultural activities.

2. Why did you choose to become a Dermatologist amongst other specialities?

Honestly speaking, I was not so sure about choosing Dermatology as a PG specialization during my UG days and at that time I was more attracted towards surgical branches, but when you grow up in MBBS you start getting more experience and you start getting to know much more about each specialization. So Dermatology in itself is a very unique branch as it is not only covers the medical aspect but it also has a lot of surgical and aesthetic procedure too. In addition, it has a very good work and life balance also if you have a good knowledge then there are good chances of earning well. That is why in last ten years it is one of the top most branch amongst the PG aspirants and having very few seats in the country when compared to other branches, it is mostly filled within the high rankers amongst the PG aspirants. Dermatology is a branch which not only heals you from within, but from outside as well. As in today's era people have become much more aware about how they look mainly because of the social media where one has to post pictures and all. So Dermatology is a branch which not only treats your disease, but also makes you a better looking person.

3. What was your feeling while starting new specialization course?

Anxious, nervous and excited. It’s a kind of mixed feeling, a new place, new people and so many new things. So I just tried to acclimatize in this very new environment and started to explore the branch.

4. Did you feel any stress in starting days, did you settle immediately or took some time?

Yes initially, I was stressed out, as I already explained, when everything is new you will take some time to settle down and some time to get used to it and know everyone.

5. How was the teaching pattern, share your experience with new friends and professors?

Post-graduation is all about working and having discussion with your seniors and professors about the cases and all the other academic stuff .There is no classroom lectures so we discuss practical points about the cases with faculties and then faculties ask questions just to get the grip of our understanding.

6. Do you get enough time for studies, your batch cooperative in study?

It is difficult because most of the time you are in hospital doing clinical work. You also need time for your sleep and your daily routine activities, but it is worth mentioning that when there is a will there is a way, so one should