Gunners: A debate

"My opinion is that gunners are people that are always hardcore studiers aiming for 4.0 all the time. Some people say gunners are like my definition but are also unethical in their quest for the mighty 4.0. Others say that they are annoying people going around and showing off/testing other ppl's knowledge.
What do you guys think?"

As long as they/you don't go around showing off, it's all good I think~ Nothing wrong with working hard for 4.0.

EHA DDS said:

I don't think being a gunner is bad...if a person always wants to do well, all the power to them.

Click to expand...

Personally, I have a neutral stance towards the word and think that the postive/negative thing all depends on the context in which the word is being used.

why a gunner is "unethical" in his quest for 4.0?
Nothing wrong with working hard after what you want. Just being cocky and arrogant about it is another story.

Dr.Smiley-OR said:

why would a gunner be "unethical"?

Click to expand...

stealing tests and stuff, or maybe giving incorrect information to people that come to them for help.

for me, people who gets 4.0 don't bother me. more power for them if they are able to maintain a 4.0. gunners to me, is people who gets the 4.0 and rub it in your face and look down on people that are not 4.0. these people i can't stand.

EHA DDS said:

I don't think being a gunner is bad...if a person always wants to do well, all the power to them.

Click to expand...

"Gunner," as it is used in medical education, is a negative thing. I believe it comes from the "gunner" position in old WWII aircraft, where the gunner was in position of taking down anything and everything that came near.

Striving for a 4.0 does NOT = a gunner.

ItsGavinC said:

"Gunner," as it is used in medical education, is a negative thing. I believe it comes from the "gunner" position in old WWII aircraft, where the gunner was in position of taking down anything and everything that came near.

Striving for a 4.0 does NOT = a gunner.

Click to expand...

Person who continually works hard to get a 4.0 = studious & dedicated

Person who continually works hard to get a 4.0 and will back-stab classmates by keeping information secret or using exams without sharing to the whole class or purposely puts down others (or the class) for person gain = gunner

Simple. I sometimes like to call "gunner" an "ultracompetitive" to save the military reference.

-Mike

How many gunners does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to screw in the light bulb, and one to kick the stool out beneath him. That's the type of connotation most folks seem to associate with it.

In the book "Expecting Adam," the author mentions how Harvard medical students would actually razor out the assigned readings from the library so that no one else could read them. Nuts, I tell you . . .

i am not totally sure of what you meant by information, but i don't really think that keeping personal notes or copies of tests handed down from friends away from the rest of the class is backstabbing. if one person never goes to class and someone more studious did go, why should the more studious person share their notes? and tests usually change enough year to year that having an old test alone will not make you do significantly better than other people. what i consider backstabbing is for instance if someone asks you for notes and you agree to give them, but purposely put in wrong information to mislead people. or if you steal someone elses notes so they can't study, or steal a copy of the actual test. those things are backstabbing and unethical.

someone once told me that at some law school, students were so competitive that they would steal other student's bags with their notes and books in them, so that that person couldn't do well on the test. that is crazy. i mean... seriously?

gunner = special teams players in football that runs downfield to hammer the punt returner

dyarhea said:

gunner = special teams players in football that runs downfield to hammer the punt returner

Click to expand...

I love Matt Payne...He always looks so angry.

I think of gunners as having no personality and being major priznicks....

Here's another word for gunner....curve killer. I've been jokingly labeled that. If you are a gunner you don't need to apologize for anything because ultimately you are responsible for yourself not them.

EHA DDS said:

So here is my question: Does the word "gunner" necessarily have a negative connotation.

Click to expand...

Yes, being a gunner ALWAYS has a negative connotation.

Everyone basically has the same available time to study, eat, sleep, party, etc. If one wants to spend 90% of the time studying, then they deserve the better grade. That's a legitimate choice, and hardly qualifies someone as a gunner. Likewise, if one person breaks a curve, you had the same amount of study time, perhaps you could have studied harder. The curve breaker is also not a gunner. Testing other people right before an exam starts I feel lends itself to OCD rather than being a gunner, so long as the knowledge isn't being taunted in anyone's face. I know I've scored extra points on many an exam by forming the last-minute friendly quiz group.

Any note stealing, inhibition of study habits or materials, etc. is a gunner. One does not need to study forever to be labeled this way (e.g. stealing exam materials). You would think medical/dental school would be the last place this would occur. All the gunners do so to get their precious residency, which usually relies on referrals from general practitioners. The people whose grades gunners weaken will in the future be the general practitioners whose referrals the gunners will need to exist economically. Think those referrals will go to the gunner who tried to screw over the GP years ago? I find it hilarious that gunners don't get this simple concept.

I believe that gunners are the ones that are not willing to help anyone else out along the way because they want to keep their competitive advantage. In the long run, this mentality will likely come back to get them. It's hard to believe this way of thinking wouldn't carry over to practice management and then employees would be hard to keep! Luckily, thus far my D1 class is pretty good. When people make up study guides and things like that, we'll make them available for the whole class.

What you guys are saying makes sense. Just getting a 4.0 is not a gunner but how he/she goes about it. Thank god I'm not one of them.

zimaad said:

I believe that gunners are the ones that are not willing to help anyone else out along the way because they want to keep their competitive advantage. In the long run, this mentality will likely come back to get them. It's hard to believe this way of thinking wouldn't carry over to practice management and then employees would be hard to keep! Luckily, thus far my D1 class is pretty good. When people make up study guides and things like that, we'll make them available for the whole class.

Click to expand...

i feel that not taking time to help others is counterproductive... explaining or demonstrating something to someone else is, at least for me, the ultimate way to learn it. once you have had to explain it to someone, you aren't going to forget it and many times you yourself understand it in better depth than you did before.

gunners are annoying... Theres no room for uncaring people with no interpersonal skills in a medical profession.. they belong in law school or they should be health care professionals in some backwards third world country..