At first, he found the strain of studies with split exam weeks rather annoying, as he also had to study during the semester break, while friends of his seemed to have led a more relaxed life. Looking back, however, he confirms that this time enabled him to learn how to set priorities. Having fun and going overboard were as much a part of his student life as learning. The challenge was to reconcile his private and professional life and his studies, and he manages to do this quite well, even in these tense times. He looks with amusement at the cliché of the student who is always partying, who comes to lectures late or not at all, and who studies forever. As a rule, this has little to do with reality, and so Mithun Santhakumar describes his life with: "I have learned to find a golden mean".
Through his various activities at HSNR, he realized early on that teaching education is something that will accompany him throughout his life. In the meantime, for example, he works as a contract lecturer at the Faculty of Health Care at the Hochschule Niederrhein, thus also returning to his old educational institution. However, he has also expanded his lecturing activities and travels throughout North Rhine-Westphalia as a university teacher / lecturer for medical controlling and coding specialists. His main job, however, is as head of medical controlling at the LWL clinics in Lippstadt and Warstein, after several years of doing the same at the Helios Klinikum in Duisburg. If he were to study again, it would be the new Master's degree programme in Health Care, because it has great flexibility in module selection and is even better structured than his old degree programme in Healthcare Management. The versatility of the faculty in Health Sciences is also reflected in the options for choosing a specialisation (Medical Informatics, Health Sciences or Management). But an MBA would also be an option for Mithun Santhakumar, as this is an internationally respected degree that focuses primarily on leadership roles and management skills.
Despite all the focus on his studies, Mithun Santhakumar of course still remembers the "typical" student life, such as leaving the lecture early at 11:45 a.m. to catch a seat in the cafeteria for lunch with his fellow students or leaving the lecture as early as possible on Friday to catch the train back home. Also well remembered is the technology in the F-Building that kept taking students out 15 minutes per lecture or the closet in room F209 next to the door. Insiders know what it's all about... But Mithun Santhakumar probably remembers best the recognition as best tutor and the tutoring award he received for it at the Hochschule Niederrhein. And Mithun Santhakumar also has some advice for students: "Go to parties, let your hair down. But don't lose focus. Focus is the keyword that should always accompany you!"
