Common sense and Pre-meds

[alwaysaangel]

So this is kind of an off-shoot of a few recent threads with just damn stupid questions.

Why is it that so many premeds completely lack common sense. I mean I thought I had no common sense - I've been conned out of money, didn't know what to do when I ran out of gas, etc. But even I'm not as bad as some premeds on here.

So how is it that so many people can reach 20 while apparently never having any life experiences or being able to think through problems themselves? I honestly don't get it. Most things that come up on here are so self-explanatory but we have people asking dumb questions about it all the time. WHY?!

Were their noses just so stuck in their books that they never looked up at the real world? And doesn't anyone else think that the inability to interpret what 'under review' means, or not comprehending why a school would ask for aliases, or even not knowing how to write a thank you note - would seriously compromise your ability to intepret simple things as a doctor???

I'm really not trying to be nasty - but if you can't interpret simple everyday things how are you going to interpret a patients answers during a history, or an order your attending gives you?

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[TMP-SMX]

The scary thing is... These people become doctors and the system chooses them because of their numbers.

 

[alwaysaangel]

The scary thing is... These people become doctors and the system chooses them because of their numbers.

Exactly!

 

[microgal]

I know what you mean but I can't really comment, I feel like I do the dumbest things and get scammed all the time... I swear to god I don't ask stupid questions though!

 

[somemaybedoc]

Could you refer me to some examples? So many people I meet everyday have no common sense, why should premeds be any different.

 

[mintendo]

I know what you mean, but I think I completely understand why people do this.

Applying to medical school is a very emotional and frustrating process. So people want to do everything to perfection so nothing they do would hurt their chances.

It's ok to feel a little insecure, even if it gets a little annoying at times. 🙂

 

[spicedmanna]

High-stakes poker (as in putting your house on the line) can make you question a number of things that you normally wouldn't question; it can make you feel insecure about little things that would normally seem obvious and clear; it can make you lose faith in yourself and in the process. The medical school admissions process is considered pretty high stakes for many people, especially those who haven't had a long time to put it all in perspective. It can turn you into an inept tool pretty quickly and make you doubt yourself. It always feels better, even if you are sure, to seek confirmation from others, especially with a lot on the line. We loose our wits quickly when confronted with stressors that we feel overwhelmed by.

But you raise a good point, nonetheless. I'm learning CPR/BLS right now for my EMT-B class. Relearning actually, because it has changed since I was last certified. There is a quick system that the AHA uses to teach how to check for breath; it's called "look, listen, and feel", or LLF, for short. I think people should always practice LLF in any situation, not just emergency ones. It's pretty simple; take a breath, relax, and LLF. You do it enough times, you just begin to trust yourself, even when the stakes are high.

 

[45408]

Could you refer me to some examples? So many people I meet everyday have no common sense, why should premeds be any different.

Most everyday people don't have someone's life in their hands, literally, but most people won't become cardiothoracic surgeons. Pre-meds however, will become cardiothoracic surgeons, among other things. You would hope that they would be smarter all-around, but it's not necessarily the case.

 

[Tiagao]

I have to say the the continual onslot of "what are my chances?" threads drive me nuts. I mean, is it too hard to look at the schools' averages for numbers and not have an idea......

School X Average stats -- GPA 3.6 -- MCAT 30 -- Chances
Student Y's stats -- >3.6 -- >30 -- pretty good
Student Z's stats -- <3.6 -- <30 -- uphill climb
Everyone else with a high/low or low/high combo -- call and ask

 

[spicedmanna]

I have to say the the continual onslot of "what are my chances?" threads drive me nuts. I mean, is it too hard to look at the schools' averages for numbers and not have an idea......

School X Average stats -- GPA 3.6 -- MCAT 30 -- Chances
Student Y's stats -- >3.6 -- >30 -- pretty good
Student Z's stats -- <3.6 -- <30 -- uphill climb
Everyone else with a high/low or low/high combo -- call and ask

Yeah, it drives me crazy, too. It just reveals the level of insecurity that many applicants have. They often choose to seek this kind of "warm blanket" through confirmation from these types of threads. Ah, no. It's just mind candy. What they should really do is go to someone they love and say, "I need a hug...BAD." 😉

 

[Rafa]

.

 

[Rafa]

edit: I'm going to make a thread out of this.

 

[somemaybedoc]

Most everyday people don't have someone's life in their hands, literally, but most people won't become cardiothoracic surgeons. Pre-meds however, will become cardiothoracic surgeons, among other things. You would hope that they would be smarter all-around, but it's not necessarily the case.

Common sense in life doesn't necessarily translate into OR performance. They could get scammed by every nigerian email scam on the planet and still know how to do their job well. Common sense and medical sense are different things. Neither is particularly common though.

 

[Mac11]

It can turn you into an inept tool pretty quickly and make you doubt yourself.

Exactly. And the way you get out of that *OMG* state is by experience. In the case of medecine, you do the procedure a zillion times until you get it. Most people don't really apply to med school a zillion times, so, back to *OMG what color shoes should I buy!?*

LLF is good in theory, but it kind of falls apart in practice. Imagine if you were learning that with an unconscious victim next to you. You're both learning that skill and using it for the first time.

 

[colbgw02]

simple - OCPD

 

[operationivy]

So this is kind of an off-shoot of a few recent threads with just damn stupid questions.

Why is it that so many premeds completely lack common sense. I mean I thought I had no common sense - I've been conned out of money, didn't know what to do when I ran out of gas, etc. But even I'm not as bad as some premeds on here.

So how is it that so many people can reach 20 while apparently never having any life experiences or being able to think through problems themselves? I honestly don't get it. Most things that come up on here are so self-explanatory but we have people asking dumb questions about it all the time. WHY?!

Were their noses just so stuck in their books that they never looked up at the real world? And doesn't anyone else think that the inability to interpret what 'under review' means, or not comprehending why a school would ask for aliases, or even not knowing how to write a thank you note - would seriously compromise your ability to intepret simple things as a doctor???

I'm really not trying to be nasty - but if you can't interpret simple everyday things how are you going to interpret a patients answers during a history, or an order your attending gives you?

Anger management my friend, anger management. You need to chill out....the path is long and you don't want to burn yourself out!! 😳

 

[Oculus Sinistra]

Ehhh. The only one that really bothers me is

"It says, 'Tell me about yourself'. What should I write about?"

What do posters expect us to say? Really?

"Write about that one time with the fire and the truck and you cried and it was green"