"That is why in 2020, among all people who went abroad, 800 were doctors while now within two months, 2’000 have left and almost 4’500 will have left by the end of this year. This is the overall scenario for Nepal right now."

"Every year, 5-10 children would die in Jajarkot village due to lack of basic treatment. And nobody cares. Once a poor villager gets sick, should they go around to local institutions seeking documents or go straight to the hospital? By the time they get to the hospital many patients are dead. What will go wrong for the government if they take a photocopy instead of an original document by the patient?"

"What the protest achieved was a correction in the appointment of the dean. It was made based on merit. The merit basis was seniority, work experience, and performance in their previous work."

"One of the reasons why I went to Maitighar was that when I was infected, the government did not help for my treatment. I had to pay by myself. They did not even cover my insurance. This was one of the main forces in driving me to Maitighar to protest."

"I stood for the protest for 28 days at Maitighar Mandala, alone. On the 28th day of strike, Covid compensation was provided to 80-90 % of the health workers."

"I think we as doctors are not made to protest, we are all about studying and doing hard work to reach our goals. Most people I know are like that and only few are politically active. We were all just tolerating and thinking it is like this, and it will change. That is what happened so many times. We had just accepted it how it was. I think now these violent attacks became very frequent, then we asked ourselves as to what we should do and started protesting."

"Only the improvement in our security and salary can bring change. If security and salary cannot be improved, change will not happen."

"[We] had begun our protest for medical education, and then this fight went to different areas. Now, many people who were a part of this protest are in politics.... [We] started the protests without any violence. The entire concept was that if the truth was out, then even if there would be only a single voice, it will still be [the voice of] the majority."

"First, the amount of money it costs to study simply is too much. Some people even sell their lands to send their kids to medical school. That money is basically spent in the first two years. Out of the five years total course duration, you are trapped because all your life savings are spent there. And then you don’t have a voice, you don’t have an opinion, you don’t have mentors. You are basically alone. As you move on. Your focus becomes money. Because now is the time to get all your money back. It is a loop, where corruption breaks you down when you join the school. Then, when you enter the workforce, you become a part of the corruption. That sets the people into burnout and suicidal tendencies. The protest regarding medical education reform in Nepal started around 2010."

"We are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. Even though we are going through all of this, we are not even getting basic compensation for the kind of effort we must put in - day after day. Not just financially. There is a lack of emotional satisfaction. I think we just want fair pay and treatment not just in the financial aspect. We want to be appreciated and that people are understanding what we all go through."

"Nursing is a very important profession. If people here were paid the same way nurses are paid abroad, it would be good. The salary is low here, everyone wants to go abroad. Even I am planning to go abroad. So, that is how it is."

"Now there is internet and all, but there is a huge gap in the curriculum in nursing. There is a huge gap between theory and clinical practice. This is one of the demotivating factors I see for current nurses."

"There is a clear curriculum mismatch. It hasn’t been revised. Nothing has really been added. You can’t just keep adding theory, you have to include something practical too. Only then will things match. Only then will they feel: “Oh, what I studied is what I’m actually doing.” This is also one of the major reasons for dissatisfaction among the current generation. Because it doesn’t match."