A TRIBUTE TO DR. NAJEEB

A born teacher!

Last few weeks, I watched scores of Dr. Najeeb’s hours-long Youtube videos activating the ‘nonstop’ mode. And believe me- while I can barely stand a 2 hour movie, I didn’t feel one iota of boredom on watching Dr. Najeeb for 3-4 hours straight in a day. Now having attended his numerous lectures on topics ranging from Basic sciences to Internal medicine, I too have the same feeling going on as thousands of other med-students: If only I had him in my medical school!

Right now, I am throwned back to the flood of remembrances of my schooldays. I remember- when I was younger (young, I still am), there were very few options for students like me when it came to studying. Wake up, go to the school, load your brain with all those exam-friendly facts and figures, return home all tired and fatigued , get drowsy while writing tomorrow’s homework (of course, out of fear of Mr. Strict’s sticks and slaps) and finally manage to catch some Zs only to wake up tomorrow and get trapped in the same vicious cycle. When I now talk to my peers from diverse locations, they too share the same story. Hostellers have even greater plights to share. Anyway, schools were the only centres of ‘learning’ and kids were supposed to extract as much as they could from their teachers. Back then, my place boasted of having one public library, which was the only other place where I could hover to quench my thirst. I now feel pity on the way I and my colleagues were raised and educated in our schools when I hear from my sisters in The Netherlands about how liberal the schools are over there and how scientific is their education system (I know, I know there’s no room for gripe anyway, for how dare I compare Nepal with The Netherlands!).

Life is way easier these days. They invented this equipment called internet (not that it came into being just recently, but this was not as global back then). Unsatisfied, they marched on to invent another stuff named Youtube. And most of all, He had already invented Dr. Najeeb. I discovered it rather late. Again, it’s not that I was devoid of the likes of Dr. Najeeb in my schooldays (how can I forget my favourite Madhav sir who was a master in leading the horses to water!!). However, speaks my experience- we live in a teacher-desert, the only form of oasis being Dr. Najeeb. And thanks to these inventions named internet and Youtube, we’ve been able to attend his classes no matter where he lectures from. And yes, without any fear of sticks and slaps.

Recently, I had come across an article that cited a research suggesting a correlation between teacher enthusiasm and student’s intrinsic motivation to learn. This ‘teacher enthusiasm’ factor is what turns out to be the most pivotal of all that elevates an ordinary teacher to that of Dr. Najeeb’s stature. While teaching any subject matter, no matter how hard or easy it is, Dr. Najeeb becomes so engrossed in his world of teaching that it is hard for his students not to reciprocate. He has this magic wand that simplifies the toughest of topics into an easily-understandable form. He takes ample time, but leaves no stones unturned in making concepts crystal-clear to his students. Parrot-learning has no place in his teachings. Each and every facts and figures must be supported by logic. In fact, his motto speaks for itself: Lasting Knowledge from Clear Concepts. And of course, plumbing the depths of topics remains his signature style. Even in this multimedia age, he prefers to draw diagrams by hand and uses markers to illustrate his points. Here again, speaks my experience, Dr. Najeeb’s white-board is way superior to the Microsoft Powerpoints of our modern-day professors. He equally knows to make his classes all the more absorbing by adding the humour factor. I have not observed the riot of laughter as that in Dr. Conrad Fischer’s (another talented medical educator) class, but yes Dr. Najeeb appears too concerned to make sure that the class ends before it starts losing its crucial vitality. He thus comes up with witty remarks at times helping spice up the class. Of course, Dr. Najeeb sir, there is no fun in telling that (in your trademark style, sir) you have all the qualities of a master educator and we have benefitted a lot from your teachings. You are a hunger-producing machine; a hunger to learn and explore. At a time when we are in a serious short supply of quality medical teachers, your nexus with Youtube has come as a real boon for us.

Do you think it needs big intelligence to guess (again in your trademark style, sir) that a lot many med-students have fallen in love with you? And no doubt, so have I. Looking forward to enjoying scores of other “So what really happens??”, “Let me tell you one thing!!”, “This is what every doctor knows, but only a very good doctor knows…”. For now, the class is dismissed!!