crash and burn

[sanfilippo]

i was surprised by the plethora of responses and heated discussion over the "survival guide" book. i have yet to begin the search at the local univ. library to see if it has a copy, but i'm wondering if others out there have read excerpts from Michael Greger's on-line tirade, "Heart Failure: Diary of a Third-Year Medical Student" at http://upalumni.org:8000/medschool

It has a mordant, sometimes cynical, sometimes unsettling account of his 3rd year rotations. Feel free to read and post any comments, insights, etc. Is this another disgruntled student? Or is this a candid manifesto that shines light on how the M3 year really is?

You be the judge.
-s.

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[bonecutter]

Every person experiences life in a very unique way. My experience has been very different from that described in the 'survival guide'. I suppose a great deal of it depends on the spin you put on things. I love medical practice and found the third year to be a wonderful experience. Contrary to what Mr. Greger suggests, my experience has been that the majority of housestaff and attendings I have interacted with have in fact been very compassionate and caring individuals. Maybe its just my school. I especially enjoyed my surgical rotation (to my surprise) and left feeling that the reputation typically ascribed to those entering surgical subspecialties is mostly based on myth and a very few facts. My take on the whole thing is that Mr. Greger had a bad experience, or that maybe he didn't count the cost before he began on this great adventure.

Bonecutter

 

[Gradient Echo]

the bottom line is that if his feelings were representative of a lot of 3rd and 4th years, there would be a HUGE dropout rate. I dont see any significant dropout rate in those years, ergo his experiences must be vastly different (or at least he is interpreting them differently) than other med students

 

[sanfilippo]

a couple of my thoughts:

1) perhaps this is how things are run at Tufts and the affiliated hospitals

2) if Greger were so disillusioned and jaded by the end of his M3 year, why did he continue with an IM residency? granted, he is doing it at the public hospital

3) he was part of an MD/PhD program. if it were horrible early on, he could have opted for the PhD only

so, yes, i'm a little incredulous, too. i mean, everyone will have at least one sucky rotation, and, for most people, it's usually surgery or ob. however, most people view that as a stepping stone.

other issues like use of anesthetized patients, rounding, deriding patients who are sedated, or inhumane call schedules are things that probably do surface and should be addressed in one way or another.

so far, my residents have been pretty congenial...a little frazzled at times, but who isn't?

-s. keep up the posts...

 

[lrg]

I haven't looked at that page in a couple years (and don't plan to again), so my recall may be a bit cloudy. From what I remember, this guy was a whiny, hypersensitive, holier-than-thou granola muncher. I have a feeling that he brought a lot of the stuff he complained about upon himself through his snide attitude that comes through. If you read his page and see yourself in him then maybe you will have some of the same problems. But if you're just another one of the guys (or gals), tend to get along well with people and don't feel the need to over-analyze and politicize everything that occurs around you then I don't think you'll have the same experience.