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- Attending Physician
First, I'm sure you're not surprised by the responses by many users on here. I created this account so my other well established and respected account wouldn't be tarnished.
I'm surprised there are three people in your class who openly smoke, I know all medical schools classes have more than that who do smoke, but most do not smoke where others can see or smell it. Do you or the other two classmates smoke outside between classes or on your way to school? Is it males, females, or both that smoke?
Some of the comments above about smoking are inaccurate. I'm a 3rd year student who has smoked 2-4 packs per month since I was 20. Like you, I find smoking to be relaxing and enjoyable. None of my classmates, professors, or attending physicians know. I don't understand the whole "everyone who smokes stinks" mindset, it is easily possible to smoke a few cigarettes a day and not smell like smoke. I usually smoke once before I shower and then one or two at night outside. Nothing I own smells like smoke and no one has any idea that I smoke. No one has ever asked. Myth debunked.
I'm sorry you have been ostracized by fellow classmates and faculty, that isn't right. Especially faculty, they have no right to behave in that manner. I would consider this type of behavior bordering on harassment. Your decision to smoke is yours, you own it, and your primary care physician has the role to discuss this with you. If your school is like mine, half the faculty have a spare tire. I'll take the risks of smoking a few cigarettes a day over the risks associated with obesity any day.
I don't agree with employers rejecting people due to nicotine use, but entirely agree with them prohibiting employees from using or smelling like smoke during their shift. Maybe radiologists and pathologists can get away with it because they are not always involved in direct patient. If smoking is fair game for employment screening, so is obesity. This type of discrimination is a slippery slope.
There is nothing hypocritical about smoking and educating patients about the dangers. Educating patients about the realities of smoking is your job and has nothing to do with your own personal habits.
That's not how it works.just an FYI, one person having multiple accounts is against the TOS
That's not how it works.
The violation is when someone creates a second account and uses it for trolling, sockpuppetting, to misrepresent themselves etc. When someone does it for a reason such as this (related to a private matter they don't wish to share), it is acceptable.
The amount of people here who equate tobacco with cancer and death
I have no problem smoking cigarettes as long as they are without additives, i.e. you couldn't pay me to smoke a camel or marlboro, and keep it to special occasions, which is what most drugs should be for (don't use smoking as a coping mechanism is what I'm saying). I'll be damned if I don't get to enjoy some of nature's pleasure. The hypocrisy here is insane, it's like we went too far to the left with our anti-smoking campaigns. Like I always say, learn to do drugs. The amount of people here who equate tobacco with cancer and death is incredibly entertaining. Absolute killers of joy, now that's the real cancer.
What did I just read?
That you should learn to do drugs.
1000% concur, and that's from someone who thinks smoking is about as gross as it can get (I have a very strong sense of smell, and if a smoker is in the room too long, I get grossed out to the point of mild nausea.)Eh, I think such policies are kind of dystopian, so I'm not a fan, as if these prove effective, there will no doubt be other things in the future. Too fat? No job. Drink alcohol? Sorry. Don't exercise regularly? Your app goes right in the trash. It's really paving the way for a slippery slope. Of particular concern is that nicotine may provide benefits at certain doses or in certain individuals (ulcerative colitis comes to mind), and that there is no proven harm from nicotine itself, merely from smoking and chewing (both of which lead to substantial exposures to hundreds of non-nicotine chemicals). But hey, that's just the part of me that believes in freedom and evidence talking. In general, such policies are likely good for the health of communities.
Opinion | Can Nicotine Be Good for You?
Smoking is horrifically bad and hell, I'd be cool with banning it entirely. But if we're not going to ban it as a society, we shouldn't leave it to employers to draw that line. What line will they draw next?1000% concur, and that's from someone who thinks smoking is about as gross as it can get (I have a very strong sense of smell, and if a smoker is in the room too long, I get grossed out to the point of mild nausea.)
Better not have a beer on your vacationSmoking is horrifically bad and hell, I'd be cool with banning it entirely. But if we're not going to ban it as a society, we shouldn't leave it to employers to draw that line. What line will they draw next?

What?
Some doctors are overweight and still push weight loss regimen towards someone if their health is suffering, but they're worse. Some doctors drink soda. That's all bad. So when you give advice, aren't you being hypocritical?
Yeah I can say oh stop drinking soda.. But then I go home and chug a 2 liter...If you're just counseling someone on the dangers/effects of a bad habit (like smoking, drinking soda, etc.), then I don't think it's hypocritical. You're just giving them information and letting them choose what to do with it.
If you're telling them they need to stop doing that and yet you're doing it yourself, then yes, you are being a hypocrite. That's my opinion, others may think differently. However, I've encountered many people who have said they didn't do something because their doctor also did it, so it must not really be that bad (mostly in regards to patient's weight).
It's times like this I am glad I'm an orthopod. I don't need to tell people to eat healthy or not smoke (well, except in the context of nonunion, but it's never stopped me from operating)... I just have to tell them, "please don't attempt a backflip off your truck while drunk again." Strangely enough, they often don't follow those directions, either. 🙂
True, but your patients can't necessarily tell that. Smoking is a lot more obvious to nonsmokers, unless you truly only do it evenings and weekends.Yeah I can say oh stop drinking soda.. But then I go home and chug a 2 liter...
Who cares it's still hypocrisy at the end of the day. But that's with everything.True, but your patients can't necessarily tell that. Smoking is a lot more obvious to nonsmokers, unless you truly only do it evenings and weekends.
True, but it's not hypocrisy that the patient knows about. Which is the only bit you can point to as impacting whether they follow your advice or not, which is the only way that you can even remotely argue that a doctor's choices in his personal life impact patient care (and thus the only reason anyone should even consider mandating them, and even then I think it's BS).Who cares it's still hypocrisy at the end of the day. But that's with everything.
AgreedTrue, but it's not hypocrisy that the patient knows about. Which is the only bit you can point to as impacting whether they follow your advice or not, which is the only way that you can even remotely argue that a doctor's choices in his personal life impact patient care (and thus the only reason anyone should even consider mandating them, and even then I think it's BS).
I was basically playing devil's advocate to my own point.
Do people really ostracize you because you smoke? I know plenty of people who smoke and generally no one seems to care.As the title suggests, are there any other smokers out there in medical school? I am literally one of only three people at my school who smoke and have been ostracized by my fellow classmates and faculty many times since I started my first year. While I am by no means a chain smoker, I have smoked 3-4 cigarettes every day since I was 14. Despite what we may be taught in class, I personally do not believe that smoking cigarettes in moderation is bad for you (just like doing anything without excess usually isn't). However, I have been told numerous times that I will look like a hypocrite in the future and that smoking as a physician has been inappropriate since the 1970s. While I did not grow up in the United States, in my home country most doctors smoke (as do most people who can afford to buy cigarettes). On the one hand I want to look professional and not be judged negatively by my peers, while at the same time, smoking is something I really enjoy and see no other good reason to give it up. To any other smokers, has your habit ever had any negative consequences on your career (in terms of relationships with colleagues, patients, etc)?
Do people really ostracize you because you smoke? I know plenty of people who smoke and generally no one seems to care.
I've seen mostly a lot of self-ostracization among my classmates who smoke. It's a giant secret (not a well kept one, usually...at least for me, I can smell smoke on someone from across a table, certainly if they sit near me in lecture) and they sneak off to smoke, sneak back, don't give people rides if they smoke in their car and it reeks, etc.Do people really ostracize you because you smoke? I know plenty of people who smoke and generally no one seems to care.
The social smokers at my school weren't ostracized. On the contrary, they were among the more popular students.
I can't believe that no one has pointed out how cool smoking makes you look.
OK, so we found your soapbox, but...who on earth are you responding to? You're arguing with a group of people who...haven't said any of the things you're freaking out over.Can we exercise some rationality?
Smoking does not equate to death and cancer, but it does up your risk. Many smoke their entire lives without major health effects, while some smokers die at 55 of a cause directly related to their smoking. How much you smoke, your genetic predisposition to certain cancers, along with when you quit, is actually a much bigger deal than people seem to think.
And people need to get a grip on the whole second hand smoke thing. Parents smoking in the home & car with small children? Yeah, that's second hand smoke, and it's a problem. Someone smelling and possibly partially being exposed to a small cloud of cig smoke (gasp!) on their one night out per year? Grow up.
The whole "smell" thing is definitely a big deal, but do you know how easy it is for someone to avoid? You really think that someone enjoying a cigarette on their patio with their morning coffee, before showering, brushing their teeth, and changing into their clothes is going to smell? Nah.
I used to bartend in undergrad, and as a consequence of that industry, bad vices were hard to avoid. I never smoked a ton, but it was something I'd do once in a while. Smoked a heater or two on nights out in college. Stopped smoking in med school. Wasn't too hard for me. However in fall of M1, some particularly traumatic personal stuff went down in my life. I was going through a very bad time and I started smoking more than ever. I had been smoking in my apartment, maybe 10 cigarettes a day for two weeks. My girlfriend is one of the hyper acute noses, who does that dramatic cough when she smells smoke. Disgusts and repulses her. The day before she came, I opened my windows, lit a candle, did a quick clean, and she didn't smell a single thing. And some of you guys think that you can smell smoke on someone who smokes a cigarette or 3 per day outside, and exercises proper hygiene? You can't.
My view is this: No one should ever smell smoke on you in a hospital or clinic. If you wake up, read the news (or Twitter), drink your columbian dark roast, and enjoy a Marlboro in the morning before you shower, get dressed and brush your teeth - no one should have the right to deny you freedoms and joys in life. If someone can smell smoke on you in the hospital, it's a problem. If you counsel a patient on quitting and you smoke two cigarettes at home each night? No problem. If you tell a patient to quit and they see you outside burning one 20 minutes later? Problem.
There is a reason people smoke. Smoking sparks brain synapses. It's a very mild stimulant. Some like the taste. And it's a vice that you can partake in while also functioning at a high level. As long as someone knows the consequences, they have a right to smoke. It absolutely does not mean they should, but it is their right. And if they can get away with it without anyone in the hospital ever knowing aside from a pee test, it's not fair to ruin someones career over it.
A year ago I was out in a different town for a friend's birthday. Had a few drinks in me. Somehow started BSing with a vascular surgeon attending. He was with three other docs. One ortho, another vascular, and an anesthesiologist. He bought me a drink. We talked and shared a few laughs. We all went out and had a cigarette together. They're all still alive and employed to my knowledge. They trained for years, they're intelligent human beings, they practice medicine, they all seemed in shape, and they're also human. Crazy, huh.
Don't ever act like smoking the occasional social cigarette (if one can keep it that way) is a horrible nasty dangerous vice, if you partake in other vices yourself.
And if someone does choose to smoke pack after pack til they die, at least they'll have died with style. As Kurt Vonnegut once said, "smoking is the only honorable form of suicide".
That's not how it works.
The violation is when someone creates a second account and uses it for trolling, sockpuppetting, to misrepresent themselves etc. When someone does it for a reason such as this (related to a private matter they don't wish to share), it is acceptable.