Byramjee Jeejeebhoy (BJ) Medical College and Sassoon Hospital
Location:
Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Medical College more popularly known as BJ Medical College or just BJMC is the medical college of the extremely famous Sassoon Hospital, which anyone in Pune would definitely know. It's very close to the railway station, right opposite the Central Building, which means that the connectivity of the college is unparalleled. To put it into perspective, if you get onto a bus anywhere in Poona, there's a 60 percent chance that it'll get you to Sassoon Hospital.
Infrastructure:
The campus of BJ Medical College (BJMC) is massive, and comprises the huge Sassoon Hospital, about 9 hostels, the main college building, and a few grounds and gardens. The college building is quite old, but the laboratories are well maintained and well equipped. The library isn't really up to the mark, since it becomes too overcrowded and extremely stuffy during exams. However, books are made available to students whenever needed, and the librarian isn't too strict about meeting book-returning deadlines either. Needless to say, there's nothing hi-tech about the hostels; in fact, very often they have major water problems and students have to go a couple of days without a shower.
Fees:
Tuition Fees : Rs. 40,000 per year
Hostel Fees: Rs. 4,000 per year
Associated Hospitals:
Sassoon Hospital, which is comfortably the largest in Poona and one of the largest in the country, is the 'mother hospital'. Since all government hospitals in the city fall under Sassoon, students have absolutely no trouble in getting internships. They don't, however, get paid much.
Faculty:
The students are full of praise for the staff. Most of the professors are highly experienced, and teach really well. The college also has an excellent Post Graduation department, and a number of PG students (who also teach pretty well) sometimes take lectures. The college has an intake of 200 students, so it becomes difficult to develop a strong rapport with professors, but they are quite approachable anyway. Communication is mainly in Marathi, although teachers are willing to switch to other languages if students need them to.
Attendance:
This is the norm with almost every medical college, so don't be shocked. BJ Medical College (BJMC) is terribly strict with attendance; you need to maintain at least 80 percent, failing which they may prohibit you from sitting for the exams. Parents being called to college is a regular affair. But all of this shouldn't worry you too much, because most medical students have attendance well north of 90 percent. It's almost a disease, we tell you.
Crowd:
The crowd is more or less like what you'll get in any government medical college. A decent boy/girl ratio (though most girls aren't too pretty, we're afraid), good mix of hostellites and localites, but a very average crowd, all in all. There are more studious than not-serious students, and you wouldn't find too many students actively participating in sports.
Festivals:
The college hosts a cultural festival every year around the Ganpati festival, which is on a grand scale and is participated in by a number of colleges across the city.
Canteen:
BJ Medical College (BJMC) has a number of messes - each hostel has a different mess - which serve decent (read edible) food to the students. The canteen is separate from the hospital canteen and has an okay, reasonably priced menu. Also, it's a bit too small, considering the number of students eating in it. They're making a new canteen soon, and it promises to be bigger and perhaps better.
Hangouts:
BJMC is right in the middle of Poona, so any place isn't more than twenty minutes away (traffic permitting, of course). The most common hangouts are SGS Mall, Koregaon Park, Mall Road and Camp.
Contact:
B.J. Medical College and Sassoon Hospital
Near Pune Railway Station,
Pune - 411001
Phone : +91 20 26128000
Website: www.bjmcpune.org
Verdict:
Excellent faculty, not so great infrastructure. Arguably the best medical college in Pune.
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