Among the medical students ready to graduate from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) on Sunday, the women have outdone the men. About 78% of the 111 students who will bag gold medals at the 23rd annual convocation of RGUHS on Sunday are women.

The three students to top the university are all women. They have bagged three gold medals each.

At the convocation, 33,629 students will be awarded their degrees and diplomas. Thirty students will receive their PhDs while 115 will be awarded super-speciality degrees. A total of 5,834 will get their post-graduate degrees and 351, post-graduate diplomas. Also getting their degrees and diplomas are 79 students for fellowship courses, nine for certificate courses, and 27,221 for under-graduate courses. S. Sachidananda, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said that each gold medal has 22-carat gold and weighs five grams.

Although many students were finding it difficult to complete their respective courses as they were not able to get hands-on experience during their internships and struggled to comprehend online classes, the pass percentage for the 2019-20 academic year is 82.29 %.

Many students who are graduating on Sunday said that as a direct consequence of the lockdown caused by the pandemic, they got very little hands-on experience during their internships.

Mala M. who is from Rajarajeshwari Dental College and Hospital, Bengaluru, bagged three gold medals. She said that her internship was affected as all dental clinics were closed for a few months as a safeguard against COVID-19. “Although I missed hands-on experience for six months, I was able to cope as I had training prior to the pandemic,” she said.

Pros and cons

Vaishnavi Kamath K. from A.J. Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, who also bagged three gold medals, said that there were both pros and cons of the pandemic to be considered. “While we got less clinical experience last year as the dental clinics were closed, at the same time we had more time to prepare for the PG National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test,” she said.

The third student who bagged three gold medals is Safiya (Pharma D) from Farooqia College of Pharmacy, Mysuru.

Neurosurgeon Alangar Satya Ranjan Das Hegde will be conferred with an honorary doctorate at the convocation.

President Ram Nath Kovind will be chief guest and will deliver the convocation address.

Safety guidelines

Keeping in mind COVID-19 safety guidelines, only gold medallists have been invited for the convocation ceremony, which will be streamed live on YouTube.