Dear Medical Students....

[1010btf]

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Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

 

[Tiger26]

Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

?????

 

[Re3iRtH]

Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

Good news, you don't need a whole lot of common sense, at least for
the first 2 years you'll get by. After that, I'd look for another job.

 

[nontrdgsbuiucmd]

sounds like me, hopefully moreso years ago than now

suggestions

-be really, unbelievably nice to each person you meet, regardless of how silly of a thing they may do. People will forgive a lot more of the down-to-earth person than the vain or aloof person. Make small talk with the medical staff. Take a minute to hold the door for a patient. etc.

-get out in the real world - volunteer, go to more public places, get into clubs whose members include broader society, go to church, whatever. Go places where you will experience things, as this will provide a better background to listen to patients and understand their perspective.

-try to push yourself to experience things that make you uncomfortable - travel to a foreign country where your language(s) is or are not spoken. Volunteer at a "meals on wheels" type place to better understand the cross section that is our society.

 

[Dral]

I find it odd that anyone would think they are lacking in common sense. It's odd since I believe almost all medical students have a decent amount of common sense. I guess maybe you wouldn't fit in. Maybe try another career path.

 

[smq123]

Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

"Lacking in common sense" will hurt you a bit more in the work-heavy fields (i.e. OB/gyn, emergency medicine, surgery, etc.). If you don't have a lot of common sense, and can't think to do things on your own, you will create a lot of work for the person directly senior to you. You will also create more work for the people around you, since you may need them to explain fairly obvious things to you.

The "not hard working" part is the one that kills me. I hate covering up for fellow students who are lazy. It really, really aggravates me. Fine, you're smart. But if you can't pull yourself together to get stuff done, and leave either the resident or a fellow student to clean up your mess....😡

What makes you think that you lack common sense, anyway?

 

[Vonsmack]

It sounds to me that if you are cognisant that you lack common sense, then you have more common sense than most people. Why do you think you lack common sense? Do you try to eat soup with a fork? Do you lick metal poles in the winter? Do you eat week old leftover meatloaf in your fridge that may not have been meatloaf at one time? Are you expecting a check from a Nigerian Prince anytime soon? These are things I think of when I think of common sense, basically not being a *****.

The fact that you said you don't work hard is a little more concerning. Unless you're one of those idiot savants who has an amazing memory, you will have to work hard, very hard there's no way around it.

 

[1010btf]

Vonsmack, most of the questions I recieve in most of my science classes require thinking, and have many concepts combined into one.. in other words, amazing memory will not save anyone in such situations, so I would rule out the savant thought.

These are in fact the questions that destroy class averages, and what students call "unfair questions", and calling them such, because they cant seem to think outside the box, or connect two things together.

Some of you guys ask me why I think I lack common sense, and I think its just from what I see in front of me. I am able to drive from A to B, and may have trouble going back from B to A... and I still dont have a firm grasp of the roads in my city despite the fact I have been driving for 1 and a half years..

Does common sense improve with more social interactions? or juts simply going outside more?

Im not exactly a guy that goes out that much, but I dont really think something like this would be the reason for the lack of common sense..

 

[Dral]

Going outside more? Like going out for some fresh air?

Ok, it really just sounds like you're trying to 'paint a picture' of a typical premed/med student moreso than asking about a personality question.

Maybe it's just my 'common sense' trying to kick in. I dunno. I apologize if this post is in all seriousness.

 

[Vonsmack]

You are correct that you need critical thinking in med school-the MCAT will weed out those that severely lack critical thinking skills.

How old are you, 17? Maybe thats your problem right there, I would argue most teenagers lack common sense. That comes with experience and maturity. Not being able to find your way back home is more a lack of visual-spacial skills than common sense. Anatomy might be a tougher subject for you but you can work on those skills.

 

[sprinkibrio]

Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

This will hurt you in whatever you do not just med school so start working on it!

 

[diosa428]

Vonsmack, most of the questions I recieve in most of my science classes require thinking, and have many concepts combined into one.. in other words, amazing memory will not save anyone in such situations, so I would rule out the savant thought.

These are in fact the questions that destroy class averages, and what students call "unfair questions", and calling them such, because they cant seem to think outside the box, or connect two things together.

Some of you guys ask me why I think I lack common sense, and I think its just from what I see in front of me. I am able to drive from A to B, and may have trouble going back from B to A... and I still dont have a firm grasp of the roads in my city despite the fact I have been driving for 1 and a half years..

Does common sense improve with more social interactions? or juts simply going outside more?

Im not exactly a guy that goes out that much, but I dont really think something like this would be the reason for the lack of common sense..

Is English your first language? I don't mean to be offensive, but perhaps that is your problem rather than the lack of common sense.

Many concepts combined into one - that's something that basically describes all of medical school, including the shelf exams and boards, and your interactions with patients.

 

[SpookyDoc]

Are we talking aspergers or mild autism, or are we talking 'socially awkward' or are we talking something else.

"Common sense" is not well-defined. Are you saying that sometimes you stick your hand in a fire because you don't know if it will burn you?

 

[Jwax]

Are you expecting a check from a Nigerian Prince anytime soon?

 

[Bartelby]

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

It probably will.

What is your alternative? Avoid doing anything that requires common sense from now on? Just do what you want and learn as you go. Get some common sense!

 

[45408]

Why do so many of you doubt this guy? If someone says they lack common sense, they probably do. I can think of plenty of people with NO common sense, and it's usually glaringly obvious.

 

[searun]

Set up a Ponzi scheme or go to law school.

 

[Dral]

Why do so many of you doubt this guy? If someone says they lack common sense, they probably do. I can think of plenty of people with NO common sense, and it's usually glaringly obvious.

It just seems odd that this guy (or gal) has enough common sense to question their abilities and is cognizant of the transition from 2nd year to 3rd year, so I wonder how lacking he/she really is.

 

[CCLCMer]

Some of you guys ask me why I think I lack common sense, and I think its just from what I see in front of me. I am able to drive from A to B, and may have trouble going back from B to A... and I still dont have a firm grasp of the roads in my city despite the fact I have been driving for 1 and a half years...

That doesn't sound like a lack of common sense. It sounds like you're preoccupied, like a stereotypical absent-minded professor. To use your example, I'm sure if you paid more attention to remembering landmarks and street names, you'd be able to learn your way around the city and not get lost. You could also do things to help compensate, like get a compass and GPS or a map. I guess if you didn't think to do any of those things, maybe you really do lack common sense.

 

[Law2Doc]

"Lacking in common sense" will hurt you a bit more in the work-heavy fields (i.e. OB/gyn, emergency medicine, surgery, etc.). If you don't have a lot of common sense, and can't think to do things on your own, you will create a lot of work for the person directly senior to you. You will also create more work for the people around you, since you may need them to explain fairly obvious things to you.

The "not hard working" part is the one that kills me. I hate covering up for fellow students who are lazy. It really, really aggravates me. Fine, you're smart. But if you can't pull yourself together to get stuff done, and leave either the resident or a fellow student to clean up your mess....😡

What makes you think that you lack common sense, anyway?

I agree with this post. The people who get good grades without working hard in undergrad often have trouble in med school, where the volume goes up far beyond anyone's ability to coast and you really have to work or drown. I'd estimate a good percentage of the bottom half of the grades on the first couple of med school exams consisted of folks who thought that what worked for them in college would still work in med school. But your classmates in med school are smarter, the volume of material is greater, and all this ends up a recipe for disaster for the folks who don't like to put in the effort. So yeah, being a "not hard working" person may doom you in med school.

As for not having common sense, you can make up for some of that by working really hard and memorizing tons of algorithms of how to approach common problems. If you know by reflex what to do for X ailment, you may not have to have nearly as much common sense. In this respect, I actually think the fields that smq listed might be the easiest to "fake" your way through by rote memorization of algorithms of what you do when, whereas the rounding oriented fields like medicine and neuro, where you need to talk out your reasoning and plan might be harder for someone with no common sense. Either way, you'd better overcome this if you expect to succeed in a professional field, because your stock and trade is really your common sense and knowledge base, not your ability to get good grades without working too hard. Time to get over this self-perception and reinvent yourself as a harder working, better thought out individual.

 

[Turtle01]

Just keep doing what works for you, and if you truly want to do it, then do it. Not working hard will only hurt you first and second year, I'd imagine it would hurt others in the final years and in practice, so you might want to work on that. That being said, all of this talk about working so hard the preclinical years of medical school is partially true, but it really depends on the individual. It's a step up for everybody, but how much of a step up is really a matter of how good you are at memorizing. Some are just better than others, but the others can make up for it by working harder.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Good news...you don't lack all common sense or nature would have taken care of you...it's called natural selection.
🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

Good news...you don't lack all common sense or nature would have taken care of you...it's called natural selection.
🙂

Well, if you read the "Darwin awards" most of those folks make it to mid-20s. So OP might still be right.

 

[DrSno]

I agree with this post. The people who get good grades without working hard in undergrad often have trouble in med school, where the volume goes up far beyond anyone's ability to coast and you really have to work or drown. I'd estimate a good percentage of the bottom half of the grades on the first couple of med school exams consisted of folks who thought that what worked for them in college would still work in med school. But your classmates in med school are smarter, the volume of material is greater, and all this ends up a recipe for disaster for the folks who don't like to put in the effort. So yeah, being a "not hard working" person may doom you in med school.

Just out of curiosity, would you say the same thing about law school? An acquaintance of mine said that it is easier and requires less work. I ask because I used to think about going to law school.

 

[student113]

Picture a student who consistently gets the highest or one of the highest marks in all his classes in undergrad, but doesnt seem to have a lot of common sense. Book smart, but not hard working. Maybe naturally smart in science, but as I said, lacking common sense.

I really want to do medical school, but I fear this lack of common sense, will begin hurting me in 3rd year, when we make that transition from the classroom to the hospital.

Please provide me with your thoughts.

Going to medical school is not the end-goal. Would anyone want a doctor who lacked common sense and is lazy? Would you?
I certainly would refuse to let such a doctor do anything for me.

 

[Law2Doc]

Just out of curiosity, would you say the same thing about law school? An acquaintance of mine said that it is easier and requires less work. I ask because I used to think about going to law school.

Nope-- the volume isn't bad in law school at all. Lots more free time in law school than med school. But you have to write a lot more and be good at essay tests. It's a very different form of schooling and very different approach.

 

[alibai3ah]

You think you lack common sense based on directions??? No worries, a lot of people are bad at directions (including me). But I agree with some of the post above, do more activities outside your home. Watch educational television, read "the economist", travel more, read books.... all things you can do to improve your common sense.