Re: MD theses sans acknowledgements

December 8, 2008

Dear SP Sir,

Glad to see you write here again, after a long time.

Let me assure you that the acknowledgments I had written in my thesis were

genuine :-)

It is indeed unfortunate that you don't get to pen down tributes when you

exit MBBS... else I would surely have mentioned each person in all the

departments with equal praise, just so that none (of the teaching staff)

would feel left out.

Ravin '82

> The MD theses, finally, are over. Focused research questions, great

> introductions, meticulous methods, well-laid out results and structured

> discussions. But what the theses won't have this year is their most

> readable

> section - acknowledgements. The section, guides loved to leaf through in

> the

> close confines of their office. The section that boosted their self-esteem.

> The section that created an illusion in their mind that they were an

> embodiment of successful researchers, crafty clinicians and humane human

> beings.

>

> Now that the 1998 batch residents are all set to submit their theses to the

> MUHS, Nashik, they would have to format the manuscript according to the

> revised rules and regulations. According to the MUHS, a thesis should be

> stripped off all identifiers: names, affiliations, and locations. The idea

> is that a manuscript, stripped of all identifiers would allow an unbiased

> and dispassionate review.

>

> That is fine. Biases and prejudices do distort the assessment. But in the

> process, the University has deprived the guides of the pleasure that the

> acknowledgement section generated for decades.

>

> Till recently, soon after the guides signed the thesis, and residents left

> behind (a parker pen) and a copy of fresh leather-bound thesis on their

> desk, the guides would quickly open the section that we were yearning to go

> through. No, this was not results, discussion or summary and conclusion.

> They were eyeing the acknowledgement section. They needed absolute privacy

> to read this section -word-by-word. For, they expected heaps of praise

> showered on them by their resident. And they were seldom disappointed.

>

> What a wonderful series of adjectives the residents picked up to describe

> their guides- " brilliant, sparkling, knowledgeable, erudite, astute… " Where

> else would the guides find those ego-pampering hyperboles: " lucky to have

> been trained under him " ; " painstakingly explained and guided me at every

> step of my thesis " ; " was an epitome of knowledge, wisdom and insight " ; " his

> impeccable understanding of study designs and statistics helped me unravel

> the complexities of medical research " , or " it was dream come true to find

> such a mentor " !

>

> For several years, I naively believed that these words came straight from

> the heart. Till a medicine lecturer shattered my blissful ignorance.

> " Residents write acknowledgments " , he said, " a couple of hours before they

> take the manuscript to the book-binder. " Tired, traumatized and tormented,

> they are no longer in a frame of mind that would let them write a creative

> prose. The baby - the thesis- is out but the placenta - the

> acknowledgments-needs to be delivered now. They need to design a section

> that would deftly disguise their guide's whims, fancies, and

> idiosyncrasies.

> Instead, they want to paint their guides through the choicest of colours

> and hues. So who do they assign this task? In the good old days, a clever

> typist in the institute had a handful of ready-made templates – all that he

> needed to know was the guide and the department! Fervently typing 60-words

> a

> minute, in no time would he deftly generate an effusive acknowledgement, a

> write-up that would make an impressive reading. Sometimes, the residents

> would ask their convent-educated juniors to write flowery English. And now,

> with the Microsoft word on their laptops, residents have discovered that

> finding synonyms and paraphrasing the prose takes just a couple of mouse

> clicks!

>

> And so, this week, as I would browse through my copy of the manuscript and

> try to find my way through the maze of graphs, tables and numbers, my eyes

> won't find the section, so dear to my heart. The thesis, nameless and

> faceless, would lack those two pages that every guide privately read but

> never acknowledged in public.

>

> Dear residents: do not destroy my illusory world. I will trust every

> sentence that you write to embellish your text. Do tell me that I did not

> acquire gray hair by a sudden flight; that my spectacular face showcases

> the

> distillate of clinical and research wisdom that I painstakingly gathered

> over years. Tell me that theses are tedious and irksome- even more

> difficult

> than twelve labours of Hercules- and but for me you would have toiled

> fruitlessly downward in the residency nights.

>

> SP

>

> - --

> SP Kalantri, MD, MPH

> Department of Medicine

> MGIMS | Sevagram

>

December 8, 2008

Dear Kalantari Sir

I am sure you dont remember me at all. I write to you to praise you like i never

did before. In fact i never realised that praise is something that everyone

yearns for. You are one of the most well respected teachers in the Medicine Dept

at MGIMS since our times. It gives me immense pleasure to say that you are a

great writer too after reading your e-mail today!! I think Dr Kishore Shah has

some competition after all!!

Regds

Rakesh Khera (* 86 batch)

Consultant

Dept Of Urology & Renal transplant

Fortis hospital

Vasant Kunj,N.Delhi

Cell- 9810549377

> The MD theses, finally, are over. Focused research questions, great

> introductions, meticulous methods, well-laid out results and structured

> discussions. But what the theses won't have this year is their most

> readable

> section - acknowledgements. The section, guides loved to leaf through in

> the

> close confines of their office. The section that boosted their

self-esteem.

> The section that created an illusion in their mind that they were an

> embodiment of successful researchers, crafty clinicians and humane human

> beings.

>

> Now that the 1998 batch residents are all set to submit their theses to

the

> MUHS, Nashik, they would have to format the manuscript according to the

> revised rules and regulations. According to the MUHS, a thesis should be

> stripped off all identifiers: names, affiliations, and locations. The idea

> is that a manuscript, stripped of all identifiers would allow an unbiased

> and dispassionate review.

>

> That is fine. Biases and prejudices do distort the assessment. But in the

> process, the University has deprived the guides of the pleasure that the

> acknowledgement section generated for decades.

>

> Till recently, soon after the guides signed the thesis, and residents left

> behind (a parker pen) and a copy of fresh leather-bound thesis on their

> desk, the guides would quickly open the section that we were yearning to

go

> through. No, this was not results, discussion or summary and conclusion.

> They were eyeing the acknowledgement section. They needed absolute privacy

> to read this section -word-by-word. For, they expected heaps of praise

> showered on them by their resident. And they were seldom disappointed.

>

> What a wonderful series of adjectives the residents picked up to describe

> their guides- " brilliant, sparkling, knowledgeable, erudite,

astute… " Where

> else would the guides find those ego-pampering hyperboles: " lucky to

have

> been trained under him " ; " painstakingly explained and guided me

at every

> step of my thesis " ; " was an epitome of knowledge, wisdom and

insight " ; " his

> impeccable understanding of study designs and statistics helped me unravel

> the complexities of medical research " , or " it was dream come

true to find

> such a mentor " !

>

> For several years, I naively believed that these words came straight from

> the heart. Till a medicine lecturer shattered my blissful ignorance.

> " Residents write acknowledgments " , he said, " a couple of

hours before they

> take the manuscript to the book-binder. " Tired, traumatized and

tormented,

> they are no longer in a frame of mind that would let them write a creative

> prose. The baby - the thesis- is out but the placenta - the

> acknowledgments-needs to be delivered now. They need to design a section

> that would deftly disguise their guide's whims, fancies, and

> idiosyncrasies.

> Instead, they want to paint their guides through the choicest of colours

> and hues. So who do they assign this task? In the good old days, a clever

> typist in the institute had a handful of ready-made templates – all that

he

> needed to know was the guide and the department! Fervently typing 60-words

> a

> minute, in no time would he deftly generate an effusive acknowledgement, a

> write-up that would make an impressive reading. Sometimes, the residents

> would ask their convent-educated juniors to write flowery English. And

now,

> with the Microsoft word on their laptops, residents have discovered that

> finding synonyms and paraphrasing the prose takes just a couple of mouse

> clicks!

>

> And so, this week, as I would browse through my copy of the manuscript and

> try to find my way through the maze of graphs, tables and numbers, my eyes

> won't find the section, so dear to my heart. The thesis, nameless and

> faceless, would lack those two pages that every guide privately read but

> never acknowledged in public.

>

> Dear residents: do not destroy my illusory world. I will trust every

> sentence that you write to embellish your text. Do tell me that I did not

> acquire gray hair by a sudden flight; that my spectacular face showcases

> the

> distillate of clinical and research wisdom that I painstakingly gathered

> over years. Tell me that theses are tedious and irksome- even more

> difficult

> than twelve labours of Hercules- and but for me you would have toiled

> fruitlessly downward in the residency nights.

>

> SP

>

> - --

> SP Kalantri, MD, MPH

> Department of Medicine

> MGIMS | Sevagram

>

December 8, 2008

Dear all

To me goes the absolutely unique privilege of being Dr Kalantri's first PG

student.I revel in it even today.

And may I say sir-my thesis had probably the shortest acknowledgement page in

all the theses done in MGIMS to date-I am willing to wager on that.And the

reason for that is what you have said at the end of your letter -I was acutely

aware of the hollowness of most of those elaborate and flowery words-and I chose

to veer away!!Every word was chosen carefully and came from my heart.

But in no way did the length of the acknowledgment map out the depth of

feeling-what you feel for your guide is a unique sentiment-they take a raw stone

and try to make it shine- shape out a diamond sometimes-its quite unmatched!!So

be assured of our regards and gratitude-U have had a hand in shaping us

today-and for that we can only be eternally indebted.

http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/msnnkmgl0010000001ukm/direct/01/

December 8, 2008

Oh well, Sir, did you know that some very 'sensible' students have given the

acknowledgement the miss in the copies of theses submitted to the

University, but retained it in their personal copies and that of their

erudite guides?! According to them, writing the acknowledgement was the most

wonderful part of doing their thesis and they didn't want to miss that!

Where there is a will, there certainly is a way!

Anshu

PS: But I didn't like the new thesis bereft of even the author's names/

Institute's name on the leather bound covers. Seemed rather plain and boring

to me!