anyone else glad to see third year go

[TheCat]

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Man I officially hated third year. I am almost done and I think i have been more unhappy this year than any in my life. I am sick of being the lowest of the low on the respect pole and getting absolutely no respect from even the janitors in the hospital. This year has been full of scut, degradation of my self worth, feelings of uselessness, fatigue and frustration and much more I am sure.
I remember last year people telling me how great 3rd year was?? Like wtfff man, what were they smokin! Anyway i hated this year and will be glad to see it go and move onnnn to what i actually like doing-am i alone on this?

 

[anonymousmonkey]

Man I officially hated third year. I am almost done and I think i have been more unhappy this year than any in my life. I am sick of being the lowest of the low on the respect pole and getting absolutely no respect from even the janitors in the hospital. This year has been full of scut, degradation of my self worth, feelings of uselessness, fatigue and frustration and much more I am sure.
I remember last year people telling me how great 3rd year was?? Like wtfff man, what were they smokin! Anyway i hated this year and will be glad to see it go and move onnnn to what i actually like doing-am i alone on this?

Nope. Right on man. I enjoyed some of it (although very little, comparitively) and really did really very well for the most part. I put a brave face on most of it, and I would say that I have almost completely fooled eveyone into thinking I have enjoyed it. Thank &%^ing god it is almost over. What a miserable year indeed. (Not helped by the fact that my school changed their curriculum around on us this year, and I thought that made it suck even more.)

Just out of curiosity, what specialty are you thinking of going into?

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Around this time last year I was on outpatient Family Medicine. I can say without a doubt that I was near the breaking point and the next under 40 morbidly obese person that came into the office because of "back pain" was gonna get it. By mid-June I was the happiest person on earth (along with many other 3rd years). It sucks bad, very bad.

 

[VincentAdultman]

Man I officially hated third year. I am almost done and I think i have been more unhappy this year than any in my life. I am sick of being the lowest of the low on the respect pole and getting absolutely no respect from even the janitors in the hospital. This year has been full of scut, degradation of my self worth, feelings of uselessness, fatigue and frustration and much more I am sure.
I remember last year people telling me how great 3rd year was?? Like wtfff man, what were they smokin! Anyway i hated this year and will be glad to see it go and move onnnn to what i actually like doing-am i alone on this?

YES

 

[TheCat]

Nope. Right on man. I enjoyed some of it (although very little, comparitively) and really did really very well for the most part. I put a brave face on most of it, and I would say that I have almost completely fooled eveyone into thinking I have enjoyed it. Thank &%^ing god it is almost over. What a miserable year indeed. (Not helped by the fact that my school changed their curriculum around on us this year, and I thought that made it suck even more.)

Just out of curiosity, what specialty are you thinking of going into?

Well the other thing that I realized during third year is the less time I want to see the inside of a hospital and the least amount of work I want to do in the future. Man I am just not cut out for call, long hours-basically most of what medicine is. In my mind the only options were dermatology, rads, and pysch that provide the lifestyle I want and I hated radiology and derm-and I liked pysch plus it offered me a great lifestyle so I am going pysch. I started off gung ho about surgery-then man oh man did i HATE surgery. My god to be stuck in an OR for the rest of my life-no thanks. I want to have time in the sunlight to drive cool cars, play lots of golf have family time. Then I though ok medicine is cool-man oh man too many old fat poeple who dont take care of themselves. Too much work for such little pay. And specialists-tooo many hours and too much hosptial.
So in the end 3rd year taught me that I am very LAZY and dont like working-hence that is how third year brough me to my decision-go pysch baby! I am planning a nice outpatient 4 days a week type lifestyle! Gooood riddens third year indeed! glad to see im not alone!!

 

[btmed772]

I COMPLETELY agree. I also remember so many 3rd years telling me, as a second year, that this year was so great. I remember one lone 3rd warning me of the hell to come, and being shot down by her classmates that were around for telling me such things...god bless her little soul. This year has definitely sucked the life out of me. I know intern year will be harder in terms of hours and work, but I'm hoping the fact that we are actually doing something, have responsibilty, and don't have to study for f#$k'n shelf exams will make it better. I have been studying less and less for my exams, and I just hope I can pass through the rest of this year. I'm sure someone if going to post that 3rd is great and we are all crazy whiners, but to any 2nd years reading this....don't listen to them!!

 

[sophiejane]

There are as many ways to describe 3rd year as there are 3rd years. To try to sum it up as "hell" or "great" or whatever and apply it to everyone's experience is kind of ridiculous.

So, 2nd years, don't believe everything you hear, good or bad.

My personal experience was that it was a blast. I was never treated like a lowlife, but was almost always treated like part of the team. I got lots of good hands-on experience and learned a lot. For the most part, I was around attendings and residents and other students who liked what they were doing and were happy, and this rubbed off on me.

It's sad to me that there are still medical schools and hospitals that make 3rd year such an unpleasant experience for some people. I don't believe that you have to suffer in order to learn, and I think my case is living proof of that.

 

[Pox in a box]

I'm tired of getting dumped on all the time by people who have no reason to show disrespect (i.e. nurses who think all people in white coats are pompous jerks). Today I asked a nurse very nicely if I could get the weight of a patient (he was admitted for a CHF exacerbation) and he needed to be weighed for outpatient followup. She immediately turned and said "I don't have time." When I told her this was the only thing holding up the discharge, she said, "I'll do it after I do all these things (and showed me some bogus list)." Number one, isn't height and weight a vital sign? It should have been recorded anyway...never was, even on admission. Number two, does it really take that long? Number three, if you're too lazy to go do a 1 minute weight check, show me how to operate the bed and I'll do your job for you. 😴

 

[sophiejane]

I've done things that are the "nurses' job" many times. Sometimes it's the most efficient thing to do.

On the whole, nurses are overworked, underpaid and stretched very thin. Medical students represent extra work for them, and I for one can't really blame them if they sometimes have better things to do than run errands for us. I try to do as many things myself as I possibly can. It's faster and it preserves good will with the nurses.

To operate the bed scale, you have to calibrate it with the patient out of bed. Normally there is a little button for that that says "calibrate" on the end of the bed. Push it. Then get them back in bed and weigh them.

Then pat yourself on the back for being such a self-sufficient person. 😉

(The sling scales are a whole different animal. You will need help working these monsters).

 

[FutureDocDO]

I'm tired of getting dumped on all the time by people who have no reason to show disrespect (i.e. nurses who think all people in white coats are pompous jerks). Today I asked a nurse very nicely if I could get the weight of a patient (he was admitted for a CHF exacerbation) and he needed to be weighed for outpatient followup. She immediately turned and said "I don't have time." When I told her this was the only thing holding up the discharge, she said, "I'll do it after I do all these things (and showed me some bogus list)." Number one, isn't height and weight a vital sign? It should have been recorded anyway...never was, even on admission. Number two, does it really take that long? Number three, if you're too lazy to go do a 1 minute weight check, show me how to operate the bed and I'll do your job for you. 😴

... and they [RNs] don't understand why physicians are mean to them? Power of Karma. What goes around comes around times a gazillion.

 

[deleted87716]

My personal experience was that it was a blast. I was never treated like a lowlife, but was almost always treated like part of the team. I got lots of good hands-on experience and learned a lot. For the most part, I was around attendings and residents and other students who liked what they were doing and were happy, and this rubbed off on me.

Ditto. I had a great time during third year. Maybe it's an FP thing? Attitude has a lot to do with it. 😉

 

[Pox in a box]

... and they [RNs] don't understand why physicians are mean to them? Power of Karma. What goes around comes around times a gazillion.

Why the karma. I didn't do anything bad to them.

 

[NMH2001]

In response to te original topic of this thread-I have been happy with 3rd year until now, as I am now on my psych rotation. This has to be THE MOST MIND NUMBING rotation I have ever been on! Hence, Here I sit killing time on SDN...

 

[SurgeryChef]

Why the karma. I didn't do anything bad to them.

They treated you like sh**, thus when you're a resident and actually have "power" over then, you'll treat them like sh** and they'll get mad and piss on some other medical student.

Yes, third year sucks, but it's a hell of a lot better than sitting in a classroom for 8hrs/day.

 

[mysophobe]

That's not karma, it's a cycle of behavior.

 

[sophiejane]

That's not karma, it's a cycle of behavior.

Exactly. And it's one we all have the ability to end. Like the kid who is abused as a child but makes the conscious decision to be a good parent and not hit his own kids, we have the ability to change the cycle of ill-will.

 

[Pox in a box]

Exactly. And it's one we all have the ability to end. Like the kid who is abused as a child but makes the conscious decision to be a good parent and not hit his own kids, we have the ability to change the cycle of ill-will.

We can't individually break the cycle. We can just cause a detour that leads to the same endpoint.

 

[buglady]

There were some parts of third year I wouldn't want to wish upon my closest nemesis, but other parts where I really enjoyed being around patients (mostly outpatient and inpatient peds). I think some of the negativity I felt about the hospital didn't so much come from the house staff, but it certainly came from everyone else. No one, and I mean no one, seemed to like their jobs. The politics and the administration of the hospital I did almost all of my rotations at were TERRIBLE. Some of the care given is pretty terrible, also, because of how poorly run the place is....can't wait to try out a different hospital.

 

[sophiejane]

We can't individually break the cycle. We can just cause a detour that leads to the same endpoint.

I disagree. Being absolutely willing to do more than is expected of you (including what you consider to be the "nurse's job") and doing it with a smile on your face, asking how you can help, etc. is very disarming to people with chips on their shoulders.

Kill them with kindness. Eventually, it works.

 

[Pox in a box]

How about instead of asking the nurse to get the weight (or the blanket or the temperature or whatever), you say, "Could you please tell me who I can ask to show me how to work the scale so I can get the weight I need to finish discharging this patient?" She or he will either get someone to help you, or decide it's easier to do it themselves.

See, you don't understand. I did ask. I got blown off. My intern had to make a special phone call, and after some reluctance, it got done. Trust me, this was just an attitude.

 

[Samoa]

Third year is what it is: a rite of passage. It hasn't really seemed like work to me. The paperwork we have to do is minimal, so most of our time is spent talking to people. Which is not work.

I seem to have a knack for not getting pissed on by ancillary staff, so that's probably part of why it hasn't been too bad. Also, they usually mistake me for a 4th year, so that probably helps.

There are lazy people all over the wards, but mostly I've been able to circumvent them.

 

[tupac_don]

I disagree. Being absolutely willing to do more than is expected of you (including what you consider to be the "nurse's job") and doing it with a smile on your face, asking how you can help, etc. is very disarming to people with chips on their shoulders.

Kill them with kindness. Eventually, it works.

Yea you are right, they get you to their job, and they can sit on their ass. Works for them.

 

[tupac_don]

Third year is what it is: a rite of passage. It hasn't really seemed like work to me. The paperwork we have to do is minimal, so most of our time is spent talking to people. Which is not work.

I seem to have a knack for not getting pissed on by ancillary staff, so that's probably part of why it hasn't been too bad. Also, they usually mistake me for a 4th year, so that probably helps.

There are lazy people all over the wards, but mostly I've been able to circumvent them.

Yea but from what I remember, you are also a pharmacist, so A) you know how to behave around other ancillary staff B) they treat you like one of their own when they know you were on the other side of the fence, rather than just one of the "tyrants"

 

[Dr. Will]

3rd year is what it is. It's site dependent, team dependent, Attending dependent, etc. There have been some great moments where I was taught and treated as a valuable member of the team. There have been miserable moments where being the lowest on the totem pole has brought about all the benefits associated with it. There were times where I felt I was just doing my resident's work...such is 3rd year. I'm happy it's ending. I'm looking forward to doing things I like, learning for knowledge and not to pass a test, and seeing the fields in medicine I will never get to experience first hand again.

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

Do you think having high expectations has something to do with the differences of being miserable vs. having a blast during 3rd year? I imagine that if a 3rd year's goal is to do residency in FP with no preference of location, then they don't really care of what is going on, how they look to this attending, what letters they will get, will they honor or not, the respect they didn't get, etc. Or is this completely irrelevant?

 

[Samoa]

Yea but from what I remember, you are also a pharmacist, so A) you know how to behave around other ancillary staff B) they treat you like one of their own when they know you were on the other side of the fence, rather than just one of the "tyrants"

I don't think that's why--most of them didn't know I'm a pharmacist. But it's true that having been one myself helps me know how to tell them what I want for the patient without seeming disrespectful of their role, or like I'm only flattering them to get them to do what I want (which is really insulting to the more competent ones, who just want to know our rationale for what we're asking, so they can be better nurses for their patients).

Places where they've worked with me as a pharmacist, they're a little skittish about questioning my judgment on anything at all. I suspect that's because as a pharmacist, my role was to troubleshoot, so the only time they ever heard from me was when someone had done something incorrectly and there was good evidence backing up any suggestion I made. Plus they know that even when they're convinced I'm wrong, I can find and print some solid literature support for my statement within about 5-10 minutes. So they probably just don't want to mess with me. I actually have to remind them that even if I want something, they can't do it unless the resident or attending says it's OK. I guess that's a good sign, but I don't want other people getting in trouble for my decisions if I'm wrong.

 

[deleted87716]

Do you think having high expectations has something to do with the differences of being miserable vs. having a blast during 3rd year? I imagine that if a 3rd year's goal is to do residency in FP with no preference of location, then they don't really care of what is going on, how they look to this attending, what letters they will get, will they honor or not, the respect they didn't get, etc. Or is this completely irrelevant?

If you're all worked up about what everyone thinks of you and whether or not you get the "respect" you think you deserve, you're in for a rough ride, no matter what your specialty focus will be.

 

[sophiejane]

Do you think having high expectations has something to do with the differences of being miserable vs. having a blast during 3rd year? I imagine that if a 3rd year's goal is to do residency in FP with no preference of location, then they don't really care of what is going on, how they look to this attending, what letters they will get, will they honor or not, the respect they didn't get, etc. Or is this completely irrelevant?

I don't really understand what you are saying here. Do you think that people who want to go into family medicine just slack off all 3rd year and try not to learn? I thought it was about learning, not impressing the right people to charm your way into the specialty of your choice. If you do a good job, and get noticed, wonderful. But, yes, if your main goal is to "appear" to be a fabulous student, you will likely fail. Attendings are smarter than that.

I want to do FM, that's why I have worked my rear off on all of my rotations. I have to know ALL of this stuff. I can't forget anything I learn in 3rd year. I don't get to slack off of OBGYN like some of my classmates did who want to go into general surgery or radiology.

My goal has not been to get noticed by attendings, although that has happened because I have been working hard and trying to learn all I can.

I know a lot of my classmates who want to do family medicine are doing the same thing and turning all the right heads as well.

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

I don't really understand what you are saying here. Do you think that people who want to go into family medicine just slack off all 3rd year and try not to learn? I thought it was about learning, not impressing the right people to charm your way into the specialty of your choice. If you do a good job, and get noticed, wonderful. But, yes, if your main goal is to "appear" to be a fabulous student, you will likely fail. Attendings are smarter than that.

I want to do FM, that's why I have worked my rear off on all of my rotations. I have to know ALL of this stuff. I can't forget anything I learn in 3rd year. I don't get to slack off of OBGYN like some of my classmates did who want to go into general surgery or radiology.

My goal has not been to get noticed by attendings, although that has happened because I have been working hard and trying to learn all I can.

I know a lot of my classmates who want to do family medicine are doing the same thing and turning all the right heads as well.

I can see how you misunderstood my message, but I didn't say people who want to go into FM can slack off. I asked if your goals aren't some hotshot residency that you need to honor all your rotations on via impressing everybody verus your goals being just to learn and not care about how this guy and that guy think of you - would that change your experience from miserable to a good experience.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

when you guys become attendings, are you gonna treat your slaves like sh8?

 

[Entei]

But, yes, if your main goal is to "appear" to be a fabulous student, you will likely fail. Attendings are smarter than that.

I'm not saying that attendings aren't smart, but NO ONE is that smart. I used to believe this too, but then I saw first hand how certain students could make the attendings and residents eat out of the palm of their hand. No one is completely immune to flattery and a little brown-nosing.

One infamous example: very slick 3rd year student who happens to be young and nice looking is on her surgery rotation. She has made it clear to all the other students that she has no interest in surgery, but feigns interest in front of anyone in authority by asking lots of random questions. Dodges work and disappears whenever she can, but always makes small talk with the residents. Her crowning achievement was when she was on overnight call one night. She got a page in the middle of the night, woke up, took the batteries out of her pager, and then went back to sleep. Then the next morning on rounds, she pretends to be shocked when they asked her where she was last night. Her response: "Oh my God, my pager's batteries must have died!" She wound up honoring the rotation.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

Her crowning achievement was when she was on overnight call one night. She got a page in the middle of the night, woke up, took the batteries out of her pager, and then went back to sleep. Then the next morning on rounds, she pretends to be shocked when they asked her where she was last night. Her response: "Oh my God, my pager's batteries must have died!" She wound up honoring the rotation.

tell me who she is. I have to learn her ways. 👍

 

[CrashinStoneFish]

Well the other thing that I realized during third year is the less time I want to see the inside of a hospital and the least amount of work I want to do in the future. Man I am just not cut out for call, long hours-basically most of what medicine is. In my mind the only options were dermatology, rads, and pysch that provide the lifestyle I want and I hated radiology and derm-and I liked pysch plus it offered me a great lifestyle so I am going pysch. I started off gung ho about surgery-then man oh man did i HATE surgery. My god to be stuck in an OR for the rest of my life-no thanks. I want to have time in the sunlight to drive cool cars, play lots of golf have family time. Then I though ok medicine is cool-man oh man too many old fat poeple who dont take care of themselves. Too much work for such little pay. And specialists-tooo many hours and too much hosptial.
So in the end 3rd year taught me that I am very LAZY and dont like working-hence that is how third year brough me to my decision-go pysch baby! I am planning a nice outpatient 4 days a week type lifestyle! Gooood riddens third year indeed! glad to see im not alone!!

lol..this sounds like me so much it isn't even funny!!!

 

[loveumms]

I can't wait for third year to be over!!!!!!!!!!!!


I hate having to appear interested when you are standing behind the anesthesia curtain for five hours, straining to see a surgical field that is 3 inches in diameter, all the while thinking about how bad your feet hurt and how much you want to go home. Then getting yelled at by the resident, who had not said three words to you for weeks, for not appearing "interested enough" b/c you are talking to the anesthesiologist (about anesthesia - since that is what I'm interested in). Or even worse, having your intern take credit and praise from the attending for the work that you woke up at 5:30 am to complete and not even giving you a little of the glory.

I also will not miss being treated like an idiot by a nurse who thinks that he/she owns the fax machine on the medicine floor that you need to use to fax patient records. Or the desk tech that sends you on a thirty minute search for the nurses kardex, when it was sitting right next to her, hidden under the Us Weekly she was reading. Or the nurses who don't take us seriously and talk for fifteen minutes amongst themselves about what their plans for Easter are while you are waiting for them to give a patient a shot of morphine so you can change a surgical dressing that would be extremely painful to change without the meds.

Of course I will miss some of the things about third year like not really having any real responsibility (you can pretend to make decisions but, when it comes down to it, the decisions you make are not really important). I will also miss having the time to get to know my patients and having the time to thoroughly explain the disease they were diagnosed with or why we are giving them a certain treatment versus another.

 

[marleybfour]

I've done things that are the "nurses' job" many times. Sometimes it's the most efficient thing to do.

On the whole, nurses are overworked, underpaid and stretched very thin. Medical students represent extra work for them, and I for one can't really blame them if they sometimes have better things to do than run errands for us. I try to do as many things myself as I possibly can. It's faster and it preserves good will with the nurses.

To operate the bed scale, you have to calibrate it with the patient out of bed. Normally there is a little button for that that says "calibrate" on the end of the bed. Push it. Then get them back in bed and weigh them.

Then pat yourself on the back for being such a self-sufficient person. 😉

(The sling scales are a whole different animal. You will need help working these monsters).

I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[xaelia]

I'm excited to get onto rotations where people are there because they're chill and interested in the topic. I am so sick of the moody whiners on my rotations who either hate their life and everything to do with (surg/peds/OB/psych/etc.), or the folks are so supercompetitive and anal that you can't even finish presenting your own patients before they interrupt.

I'm also not going to miss caring whether rotation evaluation feedback of "loved having this student on this rotation" is worth 5 points or 3 points on the numeric scale that really matters for your grade.

 

[BMW19]

Can't you guys at least pretend to like 3rd year to give us 1st years some hope? Here I sit in class for hours on hours until I have sores on my A$$ and all my classmates and I can picture is finally entering the halls of a hospital. Now you tell me it is even worse than sitting thru a Biochem lecture until you want to pass out. Great....

BMW-

I'm excited to get onto rotations where people are there because they're chill and interested in the topic. I am so sick of the moody whiners on my rotations who either hate their life and everything to do with (surg/peds/OB/psych/etc.), or the folks are so supercompetitive and anal that you can't even finish presenting your own patients before they interrupt.

I'm also not going to miss caring whether rotation evaluation feedback of "loved having this student on this rotation" is worth 5 points or 3 points on the numeric scale that really matters for your grade.

 

[mysophobe]

when you guys become attendings, are you gonna treat your slaves like sh8?

Yes.

 

[2TIM4:7]

when you guys become attendings, are you gonna treat your slaves like sh8?

Absolutely not. We need to stop the 'madness.' If the students/residents show you respect, then I will return the favor. If they don't then I may not respect them as much; I would not treat anyone the way some of you have been treated.

This whole experience is supposed to teach us about the practice of clinical medicine, the hospital and outpatient clinic environments, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong but I see a lot of other attendings that are so professional and fair, but don't have the time to teach students. (It would be nice to actually have my tuition go to them. I want a refund.)