Is this like the worst hospital policy ever? Patients from ward 4 of the SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) had been asked to vacate or accommodate themselves in other wards as the authorities intended to conduct the MBBS final year examination there. This led to protests, as patients had to find space on the floor of other wards for their sick children.

Protests by the public and the hospital development society members at the SAT Hospital here on Sunday over shifting of patients from ward 4 of the hospital to conduct the final year MBBS examination forced the hospital authorities to shift the examination venue.

The hospital authorities said the practical examination for MBBS final year students were always conducted in the wards itself as the students had to examine patients, diagnose their problem and make a case presentation. This has been the practice all along and the college did not have another space to accommodate 200 students. However, as protests mounted, the authorities decided to shift the examination to a lecture hall.

You wanna know my theory? The examiners were afraid that the patients would give out the answers to several difficult questions to the medical students. “What are the symptoms for this disease?” And a patient who raised his/her hand and say “Hey I’ve got that disease, I’ll tell you the answer”!