PMCH students take practical exam on Tuesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patients of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) did not suffer much because of the power cut, but students did while taking their practical exam.

The budding doctors had to sweat it out in the practical room while conducting experiments in the absence of power. Their mentors also had to toil extra. They had to make a few changes in the question paper at the eleventh hour after the eastern grid failure. The experiments requiring power were taken off the paper.

Professor of physiology Dr Rajeev Ranjan Prasad said: “The practical examination of MBBS first-year students, which commenced today (Tuesday), was badly affected by the power failure. Experiments conducted with the help of current had to be omitted from the test.”

Bidisha Rani, a first year MBBS student said: “Kymograph, a part of practical, records mechanical activities of animal tissue. But power is a must for preparing the graph. In the absence of current, we are not in the position to prepare the graph.”

She said she had to wait for hours to complete her exam because of truant power, which otherwise would have taken her half-an-hour.

The functioning of the microbiology department at PMCH was also hit by the power failure. Navneet Kumar Dutta, a microbiologist at the department, said: “We are not conducting any microbiological test that requires power supply.”

Raj Kumar Thakur, a relative of a patient who had come for collecting cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) report, said: “I was asked by the microbiology department to collect the report today (Tuesday). But the chance of getting the report is remote.”

The healthcare services at the PMCH were not disturbed in the absence of the power. All the hospital wards, including Tata, Hathwa and emergency ward, functioned as usual. Water supply to a few wards was hit, though.

O.P. Chaudhary, the medical superintendent of the PMCH, said: “RK Electrical and Engineering, a private firm, supplies power to the hospital whenever there is power cut.”