- Joined
- Dec 31, 1999
- Messages
- 12,622
- Reaction score
- 4,102
Bottom line up front, here's a few key 'bedside manners' our members expect and our moderators enforce:
Since 1999, our members have helped tens of thousands of their fellow members on their journey from student to doctor. The SDN Forums are the ideal place to crowdsource your career advice; only here will you find such a large, active and diverse membership willing to provide assistance and advice.
Think of SDN membership as an experience bank that you can tap into as you go through your journey. Get the advice you need now and in a few years you’ll be paying it back by providing advice to those who follow in your footsteps.
Anonymity and Honesty
The forums are anonymous so you can feel comfortable being honest. Sharing personal issues, grades, and test scores naturally creates a lot of anxiety – anonymity provides our members both the ability to ask personal questions and share openly and without social pressures.
But with anonymity comes unique behaviors. The first is trolling – our members don’t tolerate it and trolls are reported and banned quickly. The second is “painful truth.” In an anonymous setting, you may hear truth that nobody else will share with you in person. Truth can sometimes hurt. Painful truth should not be confused with trolling.
Super Scores ≠ Superstar
Do not use grades or test scores as a measure of your self worth or capability. By no means is someone that gets better grades or test scores better than you as a person. Conversely, showing-off your scores or bragging about your skills will neither impress others nor make you feel better about yourself.
Doctor ≠ Success
Being a doctor is not an easy profession. The profession demands extreme attention to detail, is high-stress, and requires long-hours for consistently decreasing pay. Schools look for students with the unique skill-set to meet these demands. By no means should you consider this an ideal or gold standard for life success.
Take time to get to the root of why you want to be a doctor. Do you want to be a doctor to fulfill a parent’s dream, because of a personal insecurity, because it seems like a challenge, or because you truly want to serve other people? Only the last option will bring you satisfaction and lifelong enjoyment.
Some members will become doctors. Others will find alternative paths to success and personal fulfillment. If you find your skills and personality are better suited for another profession, that’s great! SDN is here to help you find your direction. Ultimately, we want all our members to be successful in life, no matter what path they take.
- This forum's mission is to help medical students graduate medical school and become successful residents. Threads that do not fit the mission will be moved to the appropriate forum (usually Pre-Allo, Sociopolitical or The Lounge).
- Be courteous when asking for and receiving advice.
- Be helpful when providing advice. Rude or insulting posts are not appropriate.
- Prejudice and bigotry are incompatible with our community
Since 1999, our members have helped tens of thousands of their fellow members on their journey from student to doctor. The SDN Forums are the ideal place to crowdsource your career advice; only here will you find such a large, active and diverse membership willing to provide assistance and advice.
Think of SDN membership as an experience bank that you can tap into as you go through your journey. Get the advice you need now and in a few years you’ll be paying it back by providing advice to those who follow in your footsteps.
Anonymity and Honesty
The forums are anonymous so you can feel comfortable being honest. Sharing personal issues, grades, and test scores naturally creates a lot of anxiety – anonymity provides our members both the ability to ask personal questions and share openly and without social pressures.
But with anonymity comes unique behaviors. The first is trolling – our members don’t tolerate it and trolls are reported and banned quickly. The second is “painful truth.” In an anonymous setting, you may hear truth that nobody else will share with you in person. Truth can sometimes hurt. Painful truth should not be confused with trolling.
Super Scores ≠ Superstar
Do not use grades or test scores as a measure of your self worth or capability. By no means is someone that gets better grades or test scores better than you as a person. Conversely, showing-off your scores or bragging about your skills will neither impress others nor make you feel better about yourself.
Doctor ≠ Success
Being a doctor is not an easy profession. The profession demands extreme attention to detail, is high-stress, and requires long-hours for consistently decreasing pay. Schools look for students with the unique skill-set to meet these demands. By no means should you consider this an ideal or gold standard for life success.
Take time to get to the root of why you want to be a doctor. Do you want to be a doctor to fulfill a parent’s dream, because of a personal insecurity, because it seems like a challenge, or because you truly want to serve other people? Only the last option will bring you satisfaction and lifelong enjoyment.
Some members will become doctors. Others will find alternative paths to success and personal fulfillment. If you find your skills and personality are better suited for another profession, that’s great! SDN is here to help you find your direction. Ultimately, we want all our members to be successful in life, no matter what path they take.
