Everybody wants to be like House M.D.

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c5212

c5212

to look fly in scrubs
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In high school, did it seem like EVERYBODY wanted to be a doctor (mostly anesthesiology, plastics, you know, the ones that everyone knows makes a lot of money)? Kinda gets aggravating and monotonous especially since the majority of them seem to know nothing at all about the field- no shadowing, research, etc....
Is it the same in college, or do you notice people veering towards other subjects/professions that they are really interested in-- not just the first profession they think of when they think $ and prestige?
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Shadowing is definitely important, I was always iffy on what I wanted to do and what I thought I was capable of doing but after doing it I feel more determined then ever and I realized a lot of things about myself.

In college...all my friends who are premed all have something to back it up with, and all of us WANT to be doctors and it's hard picturing being something else and being happy. Unlike the kids back in high school and when you just start college who fizzle out when they can't pass Bio II. Then OChem is another great weed out class...

But who knows what life is going to throw out, maybe that kid who started being in it for the money will truly grow to care a lot about medicine.

EDIT: also hahaha after shadowing today, I could TOTALLY be an anesthesiologist I learned SO much.
 
Actually people in my graduating class are so stupid. One dude wants to be a nurse anesthetist because they make a lot of money. He isn't that smart, and is a total stoner, but anyway, he was telling my chemistry teacher about his career plan. My chemistry teacher told him it would be hard and it's a very demanding job. His exact words were " I thought you just put them to sleep?" He had no idea what a anesthisieologist (even a nurse) really did and this just pissed me off lol.

But yes, I get where you are coming from. But no everybody wants to be a doctor. I know only about 6 kids in my graduating class who are pre-med. As for being like House, never. I want to be Chase (sexy accent,good doctor,gets the ladies).
 
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allinthecookies said:
Shadowing is definitely important, I was always iffy on what I wanted to do and what I thought I was capable of doing but after doing it I feel more determined then ever and I realized a lot of things about myself.

In college...all my friends who are premed all have something to back it up with, and all of us WANT to be doctors and it's hard picturing being something else and being happy. Unlike the kids back in high school and when you just start college who fizzle out when they can't pass Bio II. Then OChem is another great weed out class...

But who knows what life is going to throw out, maybe that kid who started being in it for the money will truly grow to care a lot about medicine.

EDIT: also hahaha after shadowing today, I could TOTALLY be an anesthesiologist I learned SO much.
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Shadowing an anesthesiologist changed my life and is a big part of why I'm here right now applying to med school. I'm glad you had an awesome experience as well. 🙂
 
c5212 said:
In high school, did it seem like EVERYBODY wanted to be a doctor (mostly anesthesiology, plastics, you know, the ones that everyone knows makes a lot of money)? Kinda gets aggravating and monotonous especially since the majority of them seem to know nothing at all about the field- no shadowing, research, etc....
Is it the same in college, or do you notice people veering towards other subjects/professions that they are really interested in-- not just the first profession they think of when they think $ and prestige?
Click to expand...


Trust me, lots of pre-meds get weeded out in college. When I first started college there were probably 15 people in my college class who wanted to go to medical school (I go to a small liberal arts college, so that was a pretty good amount of people considering) and probably 10 or so from my high school graduating class who wanted to go to medical school. Out of all those people that I knew that wanted to go to medical school, only a kid from my high school class and I are the only ones actually applying for this cycle. All of the others either couldn't handle the work or found something else that they were passionate about.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
...As for being like House, never. I want to be Chase (sexy accent,good doctor,gets the ladies).
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Well, don't forget House actually has a British accent 😉 and is the GREATEST doctor ever... and also gets the ladies, for $50 an hour 😀
 
I actually had an interviewer who asked me if I liked the show, and then went on to say that if House was interviewing, he would do EVERYTHING in his power to stop House from becoming a doctor lol. Luckily I told him that I thought the show was not realistic and all that.
 
Wait...that isn't why people become doctors? 🙄
 
I know people who were all I WANT TO BE A DOCTOR freshmen year...some are now applying to dental school lol.
 
What's messed up is when you see completely materialistic, egocentric people with high school mentalities that somehow make it through the weed out classes. E.g. the total d0uche bags that will make enemies of 90% of his or her future colleagues. Its not just gunnerism. Its being a gunner and sh** as a member of any culture.

After Organic everyone I knew changed. It made or broke people within the semester immediately following it. Those who started out with only medicine in mind, stuck with it. Those who had a back-up major in mind, went with that.
 
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The MCAT is also a big deal-breaker. People realize that it's not just like the SAT!
 
2 instances always come to mind when this subject comes up:

1) When I was a senior in high school I took an anatomy class. There were around 30 people in it and our teacher asked us what career we were aiming for. 27 people responded doctor, I remember saying "wow I really didn't realize so many people wanted to do this" and the guy in front of me says "thats where the money is." So far there has been 1 person from my high school accepted to med school and she deferred. There are only 2 others, including myself, that are even still pursuing it.

2) First class I ever went to my freshmen year was zoology, it was the first year bio-major course that everyone took. The professor walks in draws a triangle on the board and draws an arrow pointing to the top point of the triangle. He says "the bottom of this triangle is everyone in this class, and the top of this triangle is how many of you will be doctors." There were around 130 people in the class (although everyone wasn't premed of course, but most were) and only 2 people from my undergrad were accepted to medical school last year out of around 9 or 10 that actually even made it to the application stage. I wasn't in that first bunch that was accepted but I'm pretty confident about my chances for my next application cycle.
 
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ejay286 said:
2 instances always come to mind when this subject comes up:

1) When I was a senior in high school I took an anatomy class. There were around 30 people in it and our teacher asked us what career we were aiming for. 27 people responded doctor, I remember saying "wow I really didn't realize so many people wanted to do this" and the guy in front of me says "thats where the money is." So far there has been 1 person from my high school accepted to med school and she deferred. There are only 2 others, including myself, that are even still pursuing it.

2) First class I ever went to my freshmen year was zoology, it was the first year bio-major course that everyone took. The professor walks in draws a triangle on the board and draws an arrow pointing to the top point of the triangle. He says "the bottom of this triangle is everyone in this class, and the top of this triangle is how many of you will be doctors." There were around 130 people in the class (although everyone wasn't premed of course, but most were) and only 2 people from my undergrad were accepted to medical school last year out of around 9 or 10 that actually even made it to the application stage. I wasn't in that first bunch that was accepted but I'm pretty confident about my chances for my next application cycle.
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1/5?
...that sucks...hope you get to be one of those few this year

im a freshman and the first day of bio the prof passed around a paper for everyone to write their intended major and such
many wrote down pre-med or bio/pre-med (something along the lines of wanting to be an md)

anyways most of the class has about(guesstimating by test grades) a low C or D average and down...(with median/mean test scores around low 60s)

chem is not looking too good either.

im looking forward to taking ochem next year...🙄

anyone have some crude ratio of freshman to senior premeds?

kinda scary...
 
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minicow said:
1/5?
...that sucks...hope you get to be one of those few this year

im a freshman and the first day of bio the prof passed around a paper for everyone to write their intended major and such
many wrote down pre-med or bio/pre-med (something along the lines of wanting to be an md)

anyways most of the class has about(guesstimating by test grades) a low C or D average and down...(with median/mean test scores around low 60s)

chem is not looking too good either.

im looking forward to taking ochem next year...🙄

anyone have some crude ratio of freshman to senior premeds?

kinda scary...
Click to expand...

More relevant ratio is the premed premcat to premed postmcat ratio.
 
minicow said:
1/5?
...that sucks...hope you get to be one of those few this year

im a freshman and the first day of bio the prof passed around a paper for everyone to write their intended major and such
many wrote down pre-med or bio/pre-med (something along the lines of wanting to be an md)

anyways most of the class has about(guesstimating by test grades) a low C or D average and down...(with median/mean test scores around low 60s)

chem is not looking too good either.

im looking forward to taking ochem next year...🙄

anyone have some crude ratio of freshman to senior premeds?

kinda scary...
Click to expand...

The local med school's dean says about 33% of premeds stick it out till the end.
 
I know plenty of people (yes, even ones looking at different careers) who enjoy watching House and don't want to be doctors.
 
I can think of, off the top of my head, 9 people who were premed at the start of my freshman year. There are currently only 3 left (including myself) and none of us have taken the MCAT yet. One out of those three only has like a 3.1 with a possession of marijuana, so I'm not betting on his chances, either.
 
I'm also one of about 10 from high school who actually went through with the med school thing.
:shrug: some people realize it's not for them.
 
Shinobiz11 said:
As for being like House, never. I want to be Chase (sexy accent,good doctor,gets the ladies).
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And then go to jail for faking test results to kill a harsh dictator 😀

I am such a House M.D nerd.
 
Who cares how much someone knows about pre-med? Those people will typically get weeded out in the first place. If they're smart enough they'll make it through and have good careers in a rewarding profession. Why does every pre-med dork have a huge stick up their ass? Congratulations guys. You know about a field.
 
BBender716 said:
Shadowing an anesthesiologist changed my life and is a big part of why I'm here right now applying to med school. I'm glad you had an awesome experience as well. 🙂
Click to expand...

I know! It was for a cardiac case too and I was just completely fascinated, the time just zips by!

I see you got accepted! Congratulations! Where if you don't mind me asking...
 
The first time I ever thought about becoming a doctor was during the movie Hannibal when Clarice is reading the letter from Hannibal and he is narrating it as she reads it. At the end he says, "Regards, Hannibal Lecter, M.D." I was in high school and I thought it would be so cool to be able to put M.D. after my name.
 
I will only count those in the honors college (since it makes for a smaller demographic at hunter) but Freshman year we had maybe 18 pre-meds and now that we're seniors we still have about 12...a lot stuck it out and many of us have had to retake the MCAT and still did it (complaints and all). I'm kind of proud I must say.
 
I wanna be a doctor cause of scrubs.
 
i wanna be like Christian Troy from Nip/Tuck. i would love to have his life. the ups and downs
 
I want my own individuality and character as a doctor, i don't need or want to simply copy another character on tv who isn't real...

you'll find as you get older that a lot of people love the "idea of a physician" but not all those people become physicians...
 
Yeah man, you need to live the dream by realizing those people who play doctors on television will never suddenly be inspired to be actual doctors. Case in point, House's character is worth 400k an episode.

Money matters, otherwise I would think it was awesome if Zach Braff actually quit Scrubs to become a real doctor, haha.

So, thats why I never like medical characters, because they arn't the real thing and never will be.
 
I remember being a bright eyed freshman sitting in an auditorium of 400+ people who all appeared to want to do medicine. The professor walks up to the podium and says "ok everyone, look to your left, look to your right, these people will not be here next semester. He was right. On the flipside my school's academic support center released this statistic: this year we had 84.7% of all who applied to medical school get accepted including me!
 
I don't think everyone is in it for the money like you say TC. Most pre-meds I've run into actually aren't sure about what specialty they want to be, just that they want to go to medical school. People like me, who've known since high school, are a rarity. Granted I'm sure I can change my mind down the road, and medical school will ultimately give me the insight in M3 and M4 years on which specialty I want to pursue.

As for the whole wanting to be House....I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to strive to be like him. He is a medical marvel with the courage to stand up to arbitrary and redundant "rules" of both professionalism and society, usually for the patient's benefit. TV personality aside, and unrealistic medical scenarios, it does provide a good insight on the ethics issue of medicine, and just morality in general, that everything is not so black and white. House does what he believes is right in spite of these barriers. Most people aren't strong enough to do that.

Just it is important to not take it too far. It is just a TV show after all.
 
GregoryMD said:
As for the whole wanting to be House....I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to strive to be like him. He is a medical marvel with the courage to stand up to arbitrary and redundant "rules" of both professionalism and society, usually for the patient's benefit.... House does what he believes is right in spite of these barriers. Most people aren't strong enough to do that.
Click to expand...

come on...i hate being the guy who says "the rules are there for a reason" but, come on, the rules are there for a reason.

Not running across the highway is a rule. If one person runs across the highway and makes it to the other side without consequence nothing really happens. If everyone runs across people will get hurt, accidents will happen, and traffic will backup and effect hundreds of people. The rules are there to protect the masses in both medicine and in the silly fictional metaphor. I don't know much about the nuances and complexities of the medical system but I personally think it's better to be safe than sorry and I'm guessing that if everyone began to break the arbitrary and redundant rules patient care would suffer a lot.
 
GregoryMD said:
I don't think everyone is in it for the money like you say TC. Most pre-meds I've run into actually aren't sure about what specialty they want to be, just that they want to go to medical school. People like me, who've known since high school, are a rarity. Granted I'm sure I can change my mind down the road, and medical school will ultimately give me the insight in M3 and M4 years on which specialty I want to pursue.

As for the whole wanting to be House....I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to strive to be like him. He is a medical marvel with the courage to stand up to arbitrary and redundant "rules" of both professionalism and society, usually for the patient's benefit. TV personality aside, and unrealistic medical scenarios, it does provide a good insight on the ethics issue of medicine, and just morality in general, that everything is not so black and white. House does what he believes is right in spite of these barriers. Most people aren't strong enough to do that.

Just it is important to not take it too far. It is just a TV show after all.
Click to expand...

...says the guy who is in love with a fictional character.
 
trep14 said:
Trust me, lots of pre-meds get weeded out in college. When I first started college there were probably 15 people in my college class who wanted to go to medical school (I go to a small liberal arts college, so that was a pretty good amount of people considering) and probably 10 or so from my high school graduating class who wanted to go to medical school. Out of all those people that I knew that wanted to go to medical school, only a kid from my high school class and I are the only ones actually applying for this cycle. All of the others either couldn't handle the work or found something else that they were passionate about.
Click to expand...

incidentally, a lot of the premeds from my high school that i know of now (including me) or some premeds in general didn't start out college being premed, it was something they decided after a year or so. not sure if this is just a specific case or so, but i definitely know a few people who decided to be premed much later than the normal "be a doctor since i was a little kid route"
 
o Farside o said:
my school's academic support center released this statistic: this year we had 84.7% of all who applied to medical school get accepted including me!
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure every school says that (the around 90% success rate). What they don't tell you is that the committee doesn't recommend applicants who they think won't have a decent chance of being accepted and that 90% success rate is only those who applied through the premed office.

Misleading since I bet every freshman and their parents thought they had 90% chance of getting into medical school.
 
Dannyw said:
...says the guy who is in love with a fictional character.
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How am I in love with a fictional character? Because I listed some qualities of the TV personality? Haha, take your fallacious slippery slope argument elsewhere, you bore me with your ignorance.

Oh and in case you were wondering, my username is GregoryMD because my first name is Greg. Not because the character House also happens to have the same name.
 
haha excellent use of the word fallacious my man.
 
GregoryMD said:
How am I in love with a fictional character? Because I listed some qualities of the TV personality? Haha, take your fallacious slippery slope argument elsewhere, you bore me with your ignorance.

Oh and in case you were wondering, my username is GregoryMD because my first name is Greg. Not because the character House also happens to have the same name.
Click to expand...

relax brotha, it's a joke. House is a rad show.
 
I was an officer in some dumb pre-med club...

this dumb girl came up to me like she ran the show saying:

"I know how it is - you have to be in clubs like this, etc. Now what can i do to guarantee I get in? I know exactly what im gonna be. I want to do OSTROPEDIC surgery. ive wanted to my whole life!!!"

I said: you cant possibly be serious. 1. I dont think one can say theyre destined for surgery if theyve never experienced it or anything close (she admitted she had never even dissected a mouse)
2. Do you mean ORTHOPEDIC surgery or OSTEOPATHIC surgery

(she sat with a blank stare while everyone within a 20 foot radius laughed and pointed)
 
I was talking to someone a while back and they mentioned they wanted to be a doctor.

Me: "Oh what do you want to specialize in?"
Them: "I don't know, I think I want to be a diagnostician, like House"
Me: "....you to know thats a fictitious specialty right?"
Them: "....."
 
jr doctor in sd said:
I was an officer in some dumb pre-med club...

this dumb girl came up to me like she ran the show saying:

"I know how it is - you have to be in clubs like this, etc. Now what can i do to guarantee I get in? I know exactly what im gonna be. I want to do OSTROPEDIC surgery. ive wanted to my whole life!!!"

I said: you cant possibly be serious. 1. I dont think one can say theyre destined for surgery if theyve never experienced it or anything close (she admitted she had never even dissected a mouse)
2. Do you mean ORTHOPEDIC surgery or OSTEOPATHIC surgery

(she sat with a blank stare while everyone within a 20 foot radius laughed and pointed)
Click to expand...

Ostropedic? :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
freshman year - ~7/10 people in my suite were pre-med (c/o 2007).
only 1 of us is in medical school and i think 1 other is still interested in medicine.

in college, there is a lot of weeding out that goes on and moreso a reality check with what people actually want in life.
 
jr doctor in sd said:
I was an officer in some dumb pre-med club...

this dumb girl came up to me like she ran the show saying:

"I know how it is - you have to be in clubs like this, etc. Now what can i do to guarantee I get in? I know exactly what im gonna be. I want to do OSTROPEDIC surgery. ive wanted to my whole life!!!"

I said: you cant possibly be serious. 1. I dont think one can say theyre destined for surgery if theyve never experienced it or anything close (she admitted she had never even dissected a mouse)
2. Do you mean ORTHOPEDIC surgery or OSTEOPATHIC surgery

(she sat with a blank stare while everyone within a 20 foot radius laughed and pointed)
Click to expand...
Do explain what osteopathic surgery is, please?
 
We had a banquet my senior year in high school for those who had placed at the top of their classes across the district. Since I was in the highest honors program offered at the school, a good portion of those from my school were in class with me. I cannot tell you how many people said that they were going to college to major in 'pre-med' (yes, I realize it's a real major at some colleges, but not at the ones that they were applying to).

Of the people I know who were planning on becoming doctors, one is still in undergrad getting his degree, and isn't entirely sure he wants to do medicine anymore, one decided to go for microbiology as a major and it appears she still wants to be a doctor, but I haven't seen anything regarding her application, one was going to apply last cycle, but opted not to... not sure if she's applying again or not. I've also seen one person I went to high school change his mind and decide to go for medicine (though I'm pretty sure he'll focus on research), and one person mention taking the MCAT in late August this year. So, we've got an interesting mix in our high school class... I think a good portion went on to work in the government in some fashion...
 
i have never watched that show because the ads make it look annoying as hell. i don't like most medical shows though (nonfiction are ok)
 
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