Define gunner

Started by CTG
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PostalWookie said:
Another important thing to note is that the gunners are not always the smartest people in the class. In fact, they are so agressive because otherwise they can't compete. I remember even back in undergrad, the most hardcore premeds that everyone hated were never the ones at the top of the class.
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This is VERY true, and also good to know for peace of mind because gunners are the people who stress everyone else out, but no one really has a reason to worry about them. Just ignore them, do your own thing, and you'll be fine--and they won't because they'll be too worried about what everyone else is doing--w/e, let them suffer. 😀
 
CTG said:
so now that we've established what a gunner is, what have been some people's personal experiences wiith them, and how have you handled them?
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You can't handle anybody. The best advice is worry about yourself and do what you gotta do!!
 
Sammich81 said:
What have been some of my experiences with gunners?

1. I was sick and my attending sent me home after I had pre-rounded. I missed 1 1/2 days. When I came back, a gunner came up to me, waited for residents to be within earshot and said, "Well you must not have been that sick...I heard you were out at a party!" I gave him a strange look and said, "Yeah, that's exactly where I was if sleeping on my couch is a party."
2. Rounding with a gunner who interrupts while you're answering pimp questions: beat them at it by answering first, or let them go ahead and interrupt, because attendings/residents notice and think they're completely douches.

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As for the first story, what an dingus! (The gunner, not you.) I would have smacked him upside the head and said, "How's THAT for a party?!"

As for the second one, it's true, because people like that are just annoying...they don't impress anyone.

Sweet, more stories people, I like these!!! We can all learn from each other's experiences and together wipe gunners out of existence by teaching them that no one will put up with their antics. 😀 😀 😀
 
I've actually never encountered a gunner--i.e. someone who intentionally tried to sabatoge the performance of others..

I hate the busybodies in my class...always asking where you are in the reading, why you were up so late in the library last night, wanting to exchange notes, etc. I'm pretty covert about my studying simply b/c I don't have the time or energy to join study groups or help others. I would LOVE to help others if I had the time, but flying under the radar is definitely the way to go in med school.
 
Mixmaster said:
Man that's low. Haha. I guess he had it coming. :laugh:
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ya' think? Never have I seen such an over-compensator on these boards.

Yea, it was actually getting worse than you even think. His medical school pal Dr.Mom (one of the moderators here) deleted his nastiest posts about me and (of course) left my retorts in an obvious attempt to make me look like the devil.

🙂
 
At RFU we have a collection of old exams on reserve in the front of the library, but they always seem to vanish, even if there are a lot of copies. Even when restocked, they seem to disappear quickly. So if we use the definition of a gunner as someone who will sabotage others for their own good, we have a few here.
 
Well I would not put barely gunners in the same category as major gunners. We could break that down. I mean, is it really a rocket launcher or just a BB-gun or what?

I have a story. I won't get into the specifics but it was like this. As an undergraduate, I met some people who seemed like the nicest people in the world. We became friends. Carelessly, I allowed them to convince me to set my schedule up to take a class with them in my last semester. (There were signs that I could have been reading that I was not paying attention to.) So they asked me if I had materials from a previously class (A very difficult class). So I said yes and gave them 16 lab reports and tons of notes and old exams, quizzes, the whole works. So the next day they changed into totally different people. They were like F you.

So after a while I figured out, "Hey these people are pathological liars." I told them hey, if you all have so much access to my things then you at least have to speak to me. They say so what, you did nothing special, that is what students do for each other. (They had given me about 1/10 of the information that I gave them, most likely not even that much, and said we were even.) WE DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK TO YOU, WE DON'T HAVE TO SPEAK TO YOU. So I was like, if you are going to keep on having my things then you are going to be the same people you were before I gave them to you, either or. I did this a few times, I was trying to see if they wanted a break.

So in a nutshell, they kept refusing to speak to me and kept on being pathological liars. Very sneaky people. So I got most of my stuff back. I mean you are not just going to keep using my stuff and not talk to me since the day after, what a sick thrill. They became the biggest pathological liars in the world and also went and got some friends from somewhere and started pretending like all of them had put a hit out on my life.

Representatives of my undergraduate institution actually handled the situation in a way that made me very much into the bad guy. 3 representatives all acted as if they were secretly in support of these liars. I can't tell whether they were purposely doing it or what. However, one rep did say that I did something that I clearly did not do. Another one made an unprofessional gesture which translates into F you.

😎
 
a gunner is someone who makes the following reply when asked what he got on the first test of first year of med school -

"you'll know what my scores were when you see what residency I get into"
 
Code Blue said:
a gunner is someone who makes the following reply when asked what he got on the first test of first year of med school -

"you'll know what my scores were when you see what residency I get into"
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Ironically, your 1st & 2nd year grades don't even matter when it comes to residency consideration.

This is why gunners are so clueless.
 
Sammich81 said:
What have been some of my experiences with gunners?

1. I was sick and my attending sent me home after I had pre-rounded. I missed 1 1/2 days. When I came back, a gunner came up to me, waited for residents to be within earshot and said, "Well you must not have been that sick...I heard you were out at a party!" I gave him a strange look and said, "Yeah, that's exactly where I was if sleeping on my couch is a party."
2. Rounding with a gunner who interrupts while you're answering pimp questions: beat them at it by answering first, or let them go ahead and interrupt, because attendings/residents notice and think they're completely douches.
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👍
well said -- this is the definition of a gunner. a douche-bag that tries to make you look bad in front of others.. i've had these exact same encounters.. the interuptions, the snide but 'socially acceptable' remarks to make you look bad, the self boasting.. I really find those types of people to be a simple, shallow lot. If a gunner has his sights set on you, i.e. interrupts your comments but not other peoples, that means the gunner is most likely jealous of you in some way (you are maybe more attractive, funny, get better grades, more athletic, artistic, whatever).

There is no other motive to belittle someone than one's own self-doubt..
 
Code Blue said:
a gunner is someone who makes the following reply when asked what he got on the first test of first year of med school -

"you'll know what my scores were when you see what residency I get into"
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ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Did you laugh in his face? I'm not sure this makes the person a gunner, more like an idiot. I'm sure those Derm/Ophtho PDs are carefully scanning individual biochem test grades. I think you should make a game of this, ask him after every test if you still get to know what he got on Match Day!
 
Sammich81 said:
What have been some of my experiences with gunners?

1. I was sick and my attending sent me home after I had pre-rounded. I missed 1 1/2 days. When I came back, a gunner came up to me, waited for residents to be within earshot and said, "Well you must not have been that sick...I heard you were out at a party!" I gave him a strange look and said, "Yeah, that's exactly where I was if sleeping on my couch is a party."
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Does anyone have any stories about yelling at these people in front of attendings or residents? I am only fairly cool-headed about stuff like this and if someone pulled this on me I think I would probably have to tell them to go jump in a lake.

I think when I'm an attending I'm going to pay for a second pager, it will be bright pink. If a student really annoys me or another attending/resident with behavior like this we just clip the pager on their belt and sadly say "tag, you're it." Every doc/resident/nurse/janitor in the hospital will have that pager number.

Manual disimpaction in the ED? you're it!
C. diff bedpan needs emptied? that's you!
Vomit in the cafeteria? you again!
Need a fresh coffee? 2 creams and a sweet and low!

It will be grounds for failure of the rotation to not answer the TAG pager when it goes off.
 
Since it's Memorial Day and Weekend, here are some real gunners taking a cigarette break.

Machine_Gunners.jpg
 
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