Are medical students naturally arrogant?

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Patty Grace

Patty Grace

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Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
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Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
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No.

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I think medical students work very hard to become doctors. To become the people who will "save lives". Maybe that makes some feel like they're more important, and maybe deserve better or preferential treatment, as you have stated.

I think some might develop this ideology, as they progress in school. Just my opinion.

But you should never look down at people, or treat them in a condescending fashion. That way you're breaking the essence of being a doctor, the thing that makes us all relate to patients and illness. Humanity.
 
Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
Click to expand...
No. Medical students are not a monolithic group. You would know that, if you were, in fact, a medical student.

You might also want to figure out how to change your avatar from a picture of yourself with severe torticollis.
 
The dinner I just had was awesome
 
Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what you're talking about. Medical students are the most humble, intelligent, amazing, compassionate, and wonderful people in the world.
 
Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
Click to expand...

do you have any idea how much smarter i am than you? or most people for that matter?
 
Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
Click to expand...

Your trolling is strong. On the last day, when all other trolls have been defeated and consumed, we shall do battle. There can be only one true troll.
 
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Yes, you need to be smart to go into medicine. However, doctors are not always the smartest people out there. Engineers and physicists are much smarter imo.
 
Flamen04 said:
Yes, you need to be smart to go into medicine. However, doctors are not always the smartest people out there. Engineers and physicists are much smarter imo.
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~70% of the physicians I've met (GPs especially) are dumb as rocks.
 
Brain Bucket said:
Physics/Maths grads are usually pretty smart.
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I have a cousin who is doing a PhD at MIT in math. He's surprisingly not an ahole.

And yeah I do get the Engineer = arrogant thing. They aren't always the smartest people in the room, but they are extremely practical.
 
Well my friend, i believe every aspiring or actual practitioners does deserves respect from society. As they are also integral part of it, being rude or arrogant can never helps us to win the confidence of patients. The more sober we are the more respect we earn from society as a whole.
 
Flamen04 said:
Yes, you need to be smart to go into medicine. However, doctors are not always the smartest people out there. Engineers and physicists are much smarter imo.
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I know a guy who dropped out of Harvard medical school to do physical chemistry. Smartest man I've ever met.
 
The question is, “Am I naturally arrogant?” Which makes me wonder if this… poster, has any idea as to the kind of grades one has to receive in college to be accepted at a top medical school? Or if you have the vaguest clue as to how talented someone has to be to lead the class? I have a B.S. from Harvard. I am certified in BLS and ACLS. I have been awarded scholarships from seven different honor societies in New England and I am never, ever sick at sea. So I ask you: when someone goes into that classroom and they fall on their knees and they pray to God that they don't forget that theorem or that their writing hand doesn't cramp, or that they don't suffer test anxiety and fail the exam, who do you think they’re praying they could be like? Now, go ahead and read your textbook, Patty. And you go to your classroom and, with any luck you might get a B. But if you’re looking for the best student, he was in lecture hall number two on November 17th, and he doesn't like to be second guessed. You ask me if I'm naturally arrogant? Let me tell you something: I am the most educated.
 
amazing tekkers said:
Physics grads are the worst
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You've never met the top computer scientists then 🙂.

I think this whole thing has to do with the professional culture. Medicine is an old field like law and they both come with lots of social prestige and a more upper class culture.
 
I thought we were just talking about who was the most arrogant - not who the "smartest" group is. How can you even measure that? I have found that many classmates from my engineers UG program who did exceptional in our curriculum were completely lost in other academic disciplines because they were too linear; or, naively experienced the world in a black or white fashion. Also, I noticed that there were people in every discipline of study, outside my major, that were extremely intelligent. I think this confounds the whole "who is smartest" question.

That will not stop engineering grads from suggesting that they are, however. Just wait till you have them as patients & they're smugly attempting to steer your clinical decisions because they've spent a few min researching it online. After all - they do quality assurance of metal washers at Washers Inc & got an B- in Diffeq 15 years ago; how hard can medicine be?
 
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touchpause13 said:
I have a cousin who is doing a PhD at MIT in math. He's surprisingly not an ahole.

And yeah I do get the Engineer = arrogant thing. They aren't always the smartest people in the room, but they are extremely practical.
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Engineers are the shorter, nerdier siblings of surgeons.

Not that there's anything wrong with either, but both fields tend to draw a certain type of person that is very similar.
 
Medical students, in fact, are among the most educated members of society, upon completion of their medical education. This is just one of countless reasons why physicians are so well-respected societally. That being said, it is not a requisite that you must be or should be arrogant, and the vast majority of medical students are not arrogant. What I have found to be the case for many, is that the less they know, the more inflated their ego is. Those who are well-educated and have a mastery in some area are more humble. This is also true at the level of resident, fellow and attending. Someone else has mentioned something along these lines on SDN, and I believe they mention that those in medicine with a god-complex, are often the ones who feel their work isn't as recognized or appreciated as it should be, or that simply those who view themselves as an agent-of-god are infrequently practicing the most meaningful or groundbreaking medicine. Of course, there is always an exception to the rule, but overall, most medical students are not arrogant. Am I particularly impressed when a lady tells me she is studying towards her MSW or is attending law school? No. Do I need to be impressed? No. Do I view myself as superior to them for it? No. Would I speak or act towards them in a way that disparages their chosen field? Absolutely not.

P.S. - I couldn't agree more with @yappy
yappy said:
That will not stop engineering grads from suggesting that they are, however. Just wait till you have them as patients & they're smugly attempting to steer your clinical decisions because they've spent a few min researching it online. After all - they do quality assurance of metal washers at Washers Inc & got an B- in Diffeq 15 years ago; how hard can medicine be?
Click to expand...
 
Patty Grace said:
Hi 🙂 so I was wondering...

It seems to me that medical students tend to look down on students in other fields. We tend to think we are superior to our peers who are as educated as we are, or perhaps even more educated. We tend to view our course as the most important course in universities and it seems like we expect preferential treatment even though we are not doctors yet.

Is this perhaps something that is taught to us somewhere in medical school or are we all coincidentally just arrogant?

Or is it perhaps a matter of society expecting so much from us that we try to mask our fear of failure by being arrogant and condescending to others? Maybe we walk around pretending we know everything so that those around us are less likely to question us and expose our weakness.
Click to expand...
Being a medical student is only one of the many reasons why I'm better than everyone else.
 
Priapism4tooLong said:
why is that not a smart choice?
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Unless he got into a top-ranking program for his PhD, he's going to be eating **** for the next 15 or so years of his life: 7 years on the PhD, 4 years for post-docs, then years of working 60 hours a week, $30k/year adjunct professorships while pumping out research papers and groveling for tenure.
 
yappy said:
That will not stop engineering grads from suggesting that they are, however. Just wait till you have them as patients & they're smugly attempting to steer your clinical decisions because they've spent a few min researching it online. After all - they do quality assurance of metal washers at Washers Inc & got an B- in Diffeq 15 years ago; how hard can medicine be?
Click to expand...

Holy **** that is hilarious. :laugh:
 
Sometimes, when we are very tired and just feel like staying at home, watching tv, we tend to use a different sort of fuel in order to function like the other days. That fuel can be arrogance, violence, etc. I am not saying it is right. Frustation has many expressions like forgetting important things, doing silly mistakes etc. Anyways, these are only ideas, I am not 100% sure if it is true. Also, arrogance can be cultural. You can observe people from a certain region being more arrogant that others. And not all of them are...but that is a tendency...
 
Medical students aren't generally that smart. I have kids in my class that didn't know Obama was re-running for election in 2012, and still don't know Biden's name. This is arbitrary of course, but I'd guess 1 SD above average intelligence on average.

People in intellectual fields might be smarter, but 99/100 they aren't harder working. Each has it's pros/cons, but that's the basics of it IMO. People that want to be mentally stimulated by abstract concepts and such go into academics. People that want to solve problems and be mentally stimulated that way, go into medicine.
 
Brain Bucket said:
Never said they were, but find a physicist who is also an engineer, and he will blow your mind.
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Hmm, not really. Theoretical vs. practical. They diverge pretty quickly, I can't see how being great at one would be much help in the other. Engineering is an experience game, the more you do the better you become. More education doesn't really help.

Edit: Then again, I have no idea what you mean by "blow your mind". Sorry if I took this differently then you meant it.
 
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Anastomoses said:
And the engineers? Sharp as cattle.
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Ha, I might be biased but I've worked with hundreds of them. I've never met a dumb engineer. Maybe ill informed on current events, poor students of literature, insufficiently cognizant of social issues, etc, but not exactly dumb.
 
WhippleWhileWeWork said:
Ha, I might be biased but I've worked with hundreds of them. I've never met a dumb engineer. Maybe ill informed on current events, poor students of literature, insufficiently cognizant of social issues, etc, but not exactly dumb.
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Well-read and "dumb" are two separate issues. I'm glad you pointed that out.

My uncle runs a golf course, but never finished middle school. He has the literary capacity of an elementary school student, but is far from dumb.
 
WhippleWhileWeWork said:
Ha, I might be biased but I've worked with hundreds of them. I've never met a dumb engineer. Maybe ill informed on current events, poor students of literature, insufficiently cognizant of social issues, etc, but not exactly dumb.
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the type of engineer.

Civils.....
 
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