.

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Status
Not open for further replies.
No! If ppl were able to learn how to pronounce Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky they CAN learn your name . Just keep correcting them with a polite smile and they WILL learn because they will start feeling like jerks . This is your name !!! Be proud of it!!! (From a fellow Med student with a very complex name)
 
I feel your pain. My apathetic neurology attending introduced me to patients with a minimum of five variations of my nickname during the two weeks I was with them. I had to re-intro my correct name to the patients immediately afterwards. Awkward to say the least.

It gets worse though. Although my nickname is a very common English name, they also used two variations on my final evaluation and misspelled my last name. I look back and now laugh now because they turned me off of neurology (there were other factors at play).

Keep your identity. It's who you are!
 
  • Like
Reactions: M&L
Spetzler-Martin said:
Essentially the title of the post. I have to repeat my name 3 times to residents/attendings. I have to then show my ID badge only for them to forget a few minutes later. I'm a few weeks into my rotation and I'm honestly tired. It happens with nearly everyone I meet and I'll likely have to continue to do this for years to come. Does anyone have any suggestions? My only solution is to come up with a nickname but I'm interested in alternatives. I've considered a legal name change for 4 years prior this but now I'm having serious thoughts about actually doing it.
Click to expand...

I have an impossible to pronounce name and it continues well into being an attending. My nurses took probably a year to pronounce it right.

I've never thought of this as a difficult issue. My solution would be to put on your big boy pants and stop letting insignificant things bother you because there are going to be much worse issues you're going to face and you'll have a mental breakdown if you let them all take up real estate in your brain.
 
Spetzler-Martin said:
Essentially the title of the post. I have to repeat my name 3 times to residents/attendings. I have to then show my ID badge only for them to forget a few minutes later. I'm a few weeks into my rotation and I'm honestly tired. It happens with nearly everyone I meet and I'll likely have to continue to do this for years to come. Does anyone have any suggestions? My only solution is to come up with a nickname but I'm interested in alternatives. I've considered a legal name change for 4 years prior this but now I'm having serious thoughts about actually doing it.
Click to expand...
Politely correct them, but by no means let this stress you out. Listen to Worddead's advice.
 
Last edited:
Spetzler-Martin said:
Essentially the title of the post. I have to repeat my name 3 times to residents/attendings. I have to then show my ID badge only for them to forget a few minutes later. I'm a few weeks into my rotation and I'm honestly tired. It happens with nearly everyone I meet and I'll likely have to continue to do this for years to come. Does anyone have any suggestions? My only solution is to come up with a nickname but I'm interested in alternatives. I've considered a legal name change for 4 years prior this but now I'm having serious thoughts about actually doing it.
Click to expand...
Is your last name any easier?
 
DV-T said:
I feel your pain. My apathetic neurology attending introduced me to patients with a minimum of five variations of my nickname during the two weeks I was with them. I had to re-intro my correct name to the patients immediately afterwards. Awkward to say the least.

It gets worse though. Although my nickname is a very common English name, they also used two variations on my final evaluation and misspelled my last name. I look back and now laugh now because they turned me off of neurology (there were other factors at play).

Keep your identity. It's who you are!
Click to expand...
What a jerk of an attending. They should have introduced you as student.
 
Easiest answer - come up with a nickname that's tolerable to you. There's a reason people like Dr. Nowzaradan go by Dr. Now.

We had a hospitalist get so tired of mispronunciations of his last name he had it legally changed to make it easier for patients.

Probably not the answer you want either, but you could do what I do and not care. My program administrator mispronounces my name every time she introduces me to people. It's been 5 years. I corrected her in year 1 then gave up and don't even notice it anymore.
 
ACSurgeon said:
What a jerk of an attending. They should have introduced you as student.
Click to expand...
I thought the attending and I just didn't gel. However later in the year during a neurosurgery stint, a 5th year neurology fellow and I got to talking. Without naming the attending, I explained what happened when they asked me if I was considering neurology. The fellow immediately guessed the attending. According to the fellow, this attending was distant and aloof with all the "underlings."
 
Wouldn’t stress about something like this. In the grand scheme of things there are bigger things to worry about on a med student rotation. And unfortunately it will continue into attendinghood where patients will struggle, especially older patients. Can’t get too worked up over it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top