I'd always heard from 3rd and 4th year students to watch your back during clinical rotations, as some people tend to look out only for themselves at the expense of others. I didn't want to believe it (still idealistic and naive I guess) but now that I am an M3 I've had the opportunity to see some of it firsthand. Most has been mild ("forgetting" to tell other students about mandatory meetings, refusing to share copies of old lectures and quizzes, etc.) but I understand from some of my classmates that it's much, much worse in the more competitive rotations like Surgery and OB. And it's the people that you least expect it from! Any other experiences out there? Is this what I'm in for over the next couple of years?
I'm also a somewhat new MS-III. One disturbing thing that I've seen is students talking down their classmates when on call, or otherwise alone with interns or residents who have influence on grading. On the converse, I've had residents attempt to engage ME in talking down fellow students. I try to handle that tactfully by defending the student if I can. If the resident is right on, I still try to be positive, or at least use the nocommital nod... Most people seem to have the "team" attitude, and try to help out others when possible. I recently covered for a teammate who overslept by writing a few extra notes and not mentioning it to the resident. He was really grateful. A few days later, I was post call and the only thing I had left to do was post-op a couple of patients. One of my classmates (someone I'm not close to) who was coming on offered to take care of it for me so I could get an extra hour of sleep. I was EXTREMELY grateful. What goes around, comes around... What comes around goes around.
"What comes around goes around." Ooo! Ooo! I know it! "Round and Round" by Ratt!!! Oh, this wasn't a song lyrics thread? Sorry. More on the subject, I feel like I'm pretty fortunate that all the people in my class are generally nice folks. I can think of only two or three people who are a real pain in the ass in terms of being all competitivey and generating excess stress, etc. We just choose to ignore them. lol People need to help each other out during med school. It's a crazy time. My policy is that if I ever hear of some information that might help someone else, I always share it. Good karma, ya know? We all just need to be thankful we're not in law school. From what my friends tell me, it's super ultra competitive and all the students are really grouchy and unfriendly. It would suck to be in that kind of environment. "Is this what I'm in for over the next couple of years?" Naw. Just concentrate on studying hard, getting good sleep, exercising, and maintaining a normal life as much as possible. Be the best med student you can be and forget about the hatas. Seriously, if you see people totally being cutthroat, just forget about 'em. People will generally see through their aggressiveness and it will reflect poorly on their evals. Concentrate on being at the top of your game. That's all you can do. And help out any of your classmates if they're in trouble. Good karma, like I said above, plus you'll sleep better at night.
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