Medical students and their faith - being a Hindu medic

Habit can become a way of life, and living in a traditional Hindu house surrounded by non-Hindus in Barnsley, is no exception. I was always quite adept at keeping the two apart; home was where I left my views and Hindu ideologies, and school was where I learnt the essence of being “cool.” Unlike school, medicine encourages individualism, and for me this involved accepting the culture my parents have been trying to instil into me at home. I never understood the fuss, until I came to the clinical phase in my third year of studying.

It could be seen as a norm for British Asian children to join medicine after A levels. This culture has also seeped into television, as you will be sure to find an Asian doctor pottering about in the background of a soap, ready to stun us with his one liner, “We are doing all that we can, but the chances look slim.” It's not that all Asians are being bred to be doctors, but this path can be inevitable when exposure to medicine, and particularly hard work, has …