Conversation Starters for students to docs

[FloridaMedicine]

Hey whats up you guys? Okay, i've been volunteering at the E.R. for quite sometime now. The residents are pretty cool and I have somewhat built a relationship with them ( they basically know my name and talk to me lol ). However theres this one doc there whos basically the king ding-a-ling for lack of better terms lol. He seems to be a nice guy, he always says hello and tells me I'm doing a good job and askes me to do things a lot. Now I would never interrupt him while he is busy working but often theres downtime in the E.R. and I want to start a conversation with him but I don't know what I should say. I don't want to sound like an annoying premed talking about medical related stuff but I don't want to sound dumb talking about something he is totally not intrested in. How do you guys usually start conversations with docs? Sorry if some of you guys think this thread is stupid but some real advice would be greatly appreciated

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[MilkmanAl]

Doctors are still people, you know. Just go say "hey" and tell him you're interested in medicine. That'll go a long way.

 

[FloridaMedicine]

Doctors are still people, you know. Just go say "hey" and tell him you're interested in medicine. That'll go a long way.

LOL Thanks, I knew I was over thinking this and just being a loser.

 

[DoctaFuture]

Talk about sports, current events, ask them how they like their specialty. Maybe the funniest case they've seen or a patient you've both seen in one day - talk about this patient first then transition to a different conversation.

 

[FloridaMedicine]

Talk about sports, current events, ask them how they like their specialty. Maybe the funniest case they've seen or a patient you've both seen in one day - talk about this patient first then transition to a different conversation.

Nice, I like it. Thanks man.

 

[gettheleadout]

Talk about sports, current events, ask them how they like their specialty. Maybe the funniest case they've seen or a patient you've both seen in one day - talk about this patient first then transition to a different conversation.

Just be sure to transition lol don't want to tempt them to break confidentiality rules, the signs are posted in elevators reminding them against this.

 

[marele86]

...

 

[Dial71]

Talk about sports, current events, ask them how they like their specialty. Maybe the funniest case they've seen or a patient you've both seen in one day - talk about this patient first then transition to a different conversation.

I would definately not strike up a conversation about the "funniest case... or a patient" with an attending doctor. They might not share your sense of humor and you could come off as very unprofessional. I'd stick to sports or the weather--something boring.

I made this exact mistake with an ER doc when I first started working as an ER tech and I got a stern lecture about disparaging patients.

For what it's worth, the nurses are generally much more open to such humor.

 

[DoctaFuture]

I would definately not strike up a conversation about the "funniest case... or a patient" with an attending doctor. They might not share your sense of humor and you could come off as very unprofessional. I'd stick to sports or the weather--something boring.

I made this exact mistake with an ER doc when I first started working as an ER tech and I got a stern lecture about disparaging patients.

For what it's worth, the nurses are generally much more open to such humor.

woops yeah not funniest what I actually meant to say was "interesting." yeah I wouldn't say "funniest" unless I guess I knew the doctor well and their humor. but yeah I would say "interesting."

 

[Unclipped]

I just talk about life; where they are from, what their kids are doing, sports...

You could also ask him what specialty(besides EM) he like/disliked during rotations in med school. I get some pretty suprising answers to this question.

 

[vagueus]

People like talking about a) themselves, b) things they know a lot about, and c) things they're interested in - usually in that order.

If he's a sports fan, talk about sports. You'd be surprised how quickly anguishing together about a terrible call or a stupid draft pick will build a connection.

If you don't know anything about sports, you should start reading some sports sites, ask some friends, and watch a game a week (there's usually only 1 important game a week, so this will take you far). It's worth knowing what's going on in sports not just for this doctor, but just in life in general - it's a go-to instant topic of conversation that you can use with most guys you meet. Beats the hell out of talking about the weather.

Just making small talk about his weekend, whether he had a good Christmas, etc. is good too.

You're right to not make up medical questions to ask him - it's usually pretty obvious when people do that. If you honestly do have a question, though, (and it's clear there's time for it) don't be afraid to ask it - the key is that it's spontaneous, not rehearsed. ("Hey, I noticed you gave this patient [X] for issue [Y], but you told the last patient with [Y] not to take [X] under any circumstance - just wondering why?", instead of "How does drug [X] work - what molecular pathway?")

 

[FlowRate]

I would definately not strike up a conversation about the "funniest case... or a patient" with an attending doctor. They might not share your sense of humor and you could come off as very unprofessional. I'd stick to sports or the weather--something boring.

I made this exact mistake with an ER doc when I first started working as an ER tech and I got a stern lecture about disparaging patients.

For what it's worth, the nurses are generally much more open to such humor.

The ER doc I shadow all the time races race cars, ski races, chews tobacco, and curses like a sailor, and is a damn good doc. Again, doctors are people, people are different.

 

[FuturaDocta]

if there's a lot of residents around, you can always ask what one person's major was in college. That will trigger memory lane and everyone will chime in.

 

[PostHocPropDoc]

Ditto to most of the advice in the thread already. From my experience as an ER tech, ERMDs vary widely in personality. Depending on how long you've been a volunteer, and what capacity you get to interact with the various docs, you should get a feel for their senses of humor/personality. I'm not sure what you mean by kingalingbling, if he's the guy with the most "prestige", or just the one everyone tends to gravitate to. Personally I've found over the years I get along with the younger docs as we have the most to relate to (go figure).

If you happen to get some down time and see a doc that's free (surfing the web at the end of a graveyard, whatever), just go up and speak your peace to your goals/interest and ask if you can shoot some questions their way about their background/advice. Really, there's no substitute for time and the casual interactions it brings to build up a real relationship.


edit: 1st post, woo!

 

[FloridaMedicine]

Thanks you guys for the positive advice. Whats weird is I am a people person but for some reason I just never knew what to say to him. Any how, I actually used a bit of the feedback on here and discovered he's a pretty cool guy with a great sense of humor. We actually talked for a while and had a few laughs. Later when there was more down time he shared a lot stories about when he was in med school, some really funny some pretty inspiring. Not to make this such a Disney channel happy ending you guys 🙄 but it was awesome lol.

 

[FloridaMedicine]

People like talking about a) themselves, b) things they know a lot about, and c) things they're interested in - usually in that order.

If he's a sports fan, talk about sports. You'd be surprised how quickly anguishing together about a terrible call or a stupid draft pick will build a connection.

If you don't know anything about sports, you should start reading some sports sites, ask some friends, and watch a game a week (there's usually only 1 important game a week, so this will take you far). It's worth knowing what's going on in sports not just for this doctor, but just in life in general - it's a go-to instant topic of conversation that you can use with most guys you meet. Beats the hell out of talking about the weather.

Just making small talk about his weekend, whether he had a good Christmas, etc. is good too.

You're right to not make up medical questions to ask him - it's usually pretty obvious when people do that. If you honestly do have a question, though, (and it's clear there's time for it) don't be afraid to ask it - the key is that it's spontaneous, not rehearsed. ("Hey, I noticed you gave this patient [X] for issue [Y], but you told the last patient with [Y] not to take [X] under any circumstance - just wondering why?", instead of "How does drug [X] work - what molecular pathway?")

You were so right about this ... he's a new york knicks fan.... uggghh why?!!!!!!!! he was almost perfect until this lol

 

[Ost3oclast]

In my experience, relationships with doctors take time. In my shadowing experience the doctor I shadow wasn't too open at first. Just real "on the surface" and explained things. Once he got a feel for me and my knowledge about the specialty he practiced we started talking more on a person to person level instead of a doctor student level. We will text about cases the up coming day and just to see whats goin on. its kinda weird...haha. Don't get me wrong he still teaches very well but we have conversations like you would with friends at school. I think a doctor needs to have had experience with you for a little while before really just opening up. They need to make sure your not some punk kid just trying to skip school for a day or mess around in the OR. Once they see your serious its a different story.👍

If your trying to strike up conversation, notice what he talks about with techs, nurses other docs etc. For instance, the doctor I shadow is an avid road bicyclist. The first non-med conversation I had with him was about bikes. Stuff like that...you get the picture.🙄