Fellow med students “stealing” patients

[Tozanzibarbymotorcar]

is this a thing? I read a Reddit thread where fellow 3rd years were warned not to steal or pre-round on others patients. I didn’t realize this was even possible..

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[trobinsonmd]

it's possible but not that common... what's more common is when you leave the hospital for the day and walk out with the gunners, and then they return to check with the resident if there is anything else they can do or help with... gossip in medical school spreads faster than in high school and these people are usually disliked by the whole class, same thing likely goes for people who pre-round

 

[operaman]

Very uncommon and terribly obvious to everyone else. We’ve had a couple gunner types rotate with us but they were so obviously trying to one up fellow students that it was rather pathetic. We’re nice to everyone so I’m sure some people thought they got away with it, but needless to say those folks never got invited back to our program for anything else!

Just don’t be an idiot. You’ll have plenty to do just to know your own patients and truly present them well.

 

[deleted480308]

it's possible but not that common... what's more common is when you leave the hospital for the day and walk out with the gunners, and then they return to check with the resident if there is anything else they can do or help with... gossip in medical school spreads faster than in high school and these people are usually disliked by the whole class, same thing likely goes for people who pre-round

Prerounding on your patients is a good medical student habit and everyone should be doing it, that’s not gunning

Prerounding on other student’s patients is not ok

 

[trobinsonmd]

Prerounding on your patients is a good medical student habit and everyone should be doing it, that’s not gunning

I'm not talking about pre-rounding.. I am talking about leaving when everyone is dismissed and then going back to try to make yourself look good to the resident and the attending... pre-rounding is great and I agree every med student needs to do that

 

[raiderette]

We had this situation on rounds during our second rotation. The residents started to recognize it immediately. Before long, that student was getting all the scut and we were learning how to do useful things.

 

[QueenJames]

it's possible but not that common... what's more common is when you leave the hospital for the day and walk out with the gunners, and then they return to check with the resident if there is anything else they can do or help with... gossip in medical school spreads faster than in high school and these people are usually disliked by the whole class, same thing likely goes for people who pre-round

This is exactly why I don't do ANYTHING with other med students.

I will not sit at the same table for lunch with them.
I will not get coffee with them.
I will not study with them.

Everybody has a mask on and you realize everybody is out for themselves.

 

[trobinsonmd]

This is exactly why I don't do ANYTHING with other med students.

I will not sit at the same table for lunch with them.
I will not get coffee with them.
I will not study with them.

Everybody has a mask on and you realize everybody is out for themselves.

ehhh, it's nice to have friends who understand what you are going through, but you also have to be weary of the fact that these people are competing with you... even if you go to a pass/no pass school -- come clerkships, it really is every man for his or her self... I liked to have several med school friends to hangout with and eat lunch with, but at the same time, I knew that a lot of the people who pretended to your friend really wanted to see you fail a clerkship... residency is much better and it is easier to make genuine friends who actually support you and want to see you succeed

 

[deleted480308]

This stuff very occasionally happens. The resident will tell one student A to take patient X and tell student B to take patient Y, then student A will take both or take the one who looks more interesting. Or people will show up to deliveries, surgeries, etc. when it's not their "turn" if there are multiple students on the same service. It's just a few students out of my class who do this sort of thing...not sure if it's intentional or if they are just completely clueless about how rude they're being lol.

Much, much more frequently I've seen my classmates help people. When we swap teams the "old" students will let the "new" students know what the residents and attendings expect, tell other students what a certain surgeon likes to pimp about before they go into a surgery, even give away surgeries/patients because somebody else stood to benefit from seeing a certain case, working with a certain attending, just thought it was a really cool case, etc.

Yeah, I generally contacted the incoming students to a service so one of us leaving the service could give them an orientation before they hit the floor

 

[mistafab]

That’s not a bad thing though. You can still get yours while other people get theirs.

It is a rare situation where one persons’s game is directly detrimental to yours. Gotta cope with that and learn to play around it so you can be more successful. Go out there and make some friends!

Everybody has a mask on and you realize everybody is out for themselves.

 

[QueenJames]

ehhh, it's nice to have friends who understand what you are going through, but you also have to be weary of the fact that these people are competing with you... even if you go to a pass/no pass school -- come clerkships, it really is every man for his or her self... I liked to have several med school friends to hangout with and eat lunch with, but at the same time, I knew that a lot of the people who pretended to your friend really wanted to see you fail a clerkship... residency is much better and it is easier to make genuine friends who actually support you and want to see you succeed

I feel you homie but to me, these people aren't friends.

That’s not a bad thing though. You can still get yours while other people get theirs.

It is a rare situation where one persons’s game is directly detrimental to yours. Gotta cope with that and learn to play around it so you can be more successful. Go out there and make some friends!

I feel you mistahfab.

I should have expanded on my point.

I'm the type of dude who will give you my study guides, who will send you links to stuff that have helped me, who will come to you with questions and actually listen to you and complement you and wish you all the best... But I do NOT expect anything back from you.

I go out of my way without wanting things back from others and don't expect it but I've realized it is the same people that preach this positivity bull**** that are the secret competitive ones.

It gets tiresome and annoying because that's not have humanity works but that's why I depend on myself. And help out when I can.

Med students are just a different breed.

 

[deleted480308]

I feel you homie but to me, these people aren't friends.


I feel you mistahfab.

I should have expanded on my point.

I'm the type of dude who will give you my study guides, who will send you links to stuff that have helped me, who will come to you with questions and actually listen to you and complement you and wish you all the best... But I do NOT expect anything back from you.

I go out of my way without wanting things back from others and don't expect it but I've realized it is the same people that preach this positivity bull**** that are the secret competitive ones.

It gets tiresome and annoying because that's not have humanity works but that's why I depend on myself. And help out when I can.

Med students are just a different breed.

Agreed with some of this.....I absolutely always expected to handle my own stuff

 

[Saleemrodman1]

ehhh, it's nice to have friends who understand what you are going through, but you also have to be weary of the fact that these people are competing with you... even if you go to a pass/no pass school -- come clerkships, it really is every man for his or her self... I liked to have several med school friends to hangout with and eat lunch with, but at the same time, I knew that a lot of the people who pretended to your friend really wanted to see you fail a clerkship... residency is much better and it is easier to make genuine friends who actually support you and want to see you succeed

That is depressing...I was excited to make friends in Med school, because I avoided these kinds of people in UG.

 

[trobinsonmd]

That is depressing...I was excited to make friends in Med school, because I avoided these kinds of people in UG.

You can still make med student friends... I went to NYU, and Cornell was very close, so a lot of NYU people (myself included) were friends with Cornell med students and vice versa, since we were not competing with one another... it was a nice dynamic. If you have any med schools near you (or dentistry, PT, PA, nursing, etc), I would try to make friends with those people since they are also in healthcare professions and they will be able to relate to some stuff, but they are not going to be secretly undermining you. Also, not EVERYONE in med school is bad, 1/30 people are probably actually genuinely nice, it is just hard to pinpoint these people

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

That is depressing...I was excited to make friends in Med school, because I avoided these kinds of people in UG.

At every school there’s gonna be some of this, but the idea that everyone is out for themselves is kind of crazy.

Obviously no one is going to let you walk all over them, but most people have the social sense to realize that it’s not a 0 sum game. There can be more than one “rock-star” student on a rotation.

Some days I’ll get a patient and give it to one of the other students on the team if I know they have an interest in the disease in question. If a friend is getting slammed with work and didn’t have time to do the reading, I’m happy to send them my notes. This is not out of pure altruism, but rather because I know they’d do the same for me.

And it’s nice to have friends to grab a beer with after a long day on the wards. We’re people after all, not robots.

 

[takeurmeds02]

Slightly different situation:

I've had instances where folks have stepped on toes. If we've all agreed that the next admission is mine then I expect that you let me take the lead if you happen to be present for the initial interview. Also keep your mouth shut if the attending is not addressing you bc the attending will then think it's your patient.

I don't believe in the other students not being able to take part in learning. There's no such thing as a monopoly on the patient but I also think there should stand a common courtesy.

The person then tried to "give me back" the patient (ie. I do the note and continue following them). No. If you wanna do all the work from the get go then the patient becomes yours.

I honestly believe that the person meant no harm but self-awareness has to be learned at some point, sooner rather than later.

 

[cryhavoc]

None of my classmates like me anyway but I wouldn’t do that.

I’m literally friends with every nurse, aid, tech and janitor. Med students are just too boring, superficially polite and mean for me to enjoy any time with them.

 

[jrlob91]

I met some of my best friends ever in medical school. Not everyone is an out to get you gunner type of student. In fact, my school had maybe 5 of them total out of ~110. This bs above about all med students are the same and not to trust anyone is extremely bothersome. If this is how you really feel, then maybe YOU are the problem.

 

[frosted2]

None of my classmates like me anyway but I wouldn’t do that.

I’m literally friends with every nurse, aid, tech and janitor. Med students are just too boring, superficially polite and mean for me to enjoy any time with them.

Can you PM me? I'd like to ask you a few questions! I worked in a hospital and I loved the med students who were nice to me (as an ER tech). I always tried my best to make their lives easier.

 

[ortnakas]

This is exactly why I don't do ANYTHING with other med students.

I will not sit at the same table for lunch with them.
I will not get coffee with them.
I will not study with them.

Everybody has a mask on and you realize everybody is out for themselves.

I’m really sad for the med school experience you seem to be having. Some of the best friends I have are friends I made in med school.

 

[QueenJames]

I’m really sad for the med school experience you seem to be having. Some of the best friends I have are friends I made in med school.

Hahaha don't be sad.

I'm currently playing GTA V and eating pizza on my weekend off while my costudents are at an event for a post-grand rounds celebratory dinner.

no harm no foul.

It's a win-win honestly.

Life is pretty damn sweet these days in my opinion.

No complaints!

 

[073116]

This is exactly why I don't do ANYTHING with other med students.

I will not sit at the same table for lunch with them.
I will not get coffee with them.
I will not study with them.

Everybody has a mask on and you realize everybody is out for themselves.

Dude, for me it makes no sense to wear a mask every-time on all rotations. I got honors on one of my IM rotations and that's where I want to go. That rotation matters to me. I'm not going to be gunning and wear a mask on my other not so relevant rotations like peds, or psych or surgery lol. I could care less if some surgeon will not have his arse licked by me lol. I'm going to be myself on majority of rotations except those that matter for me. So you are like true in 10% of cases. 90% of time you are lonely and suffering in silence - that is doing damage and I don't think it's good for you man. Besides people see how you behave and I don't think they like it.

 

[QueenJames]

Dude, for me it makes no sense to wear a mask every-time on all rotations. I got honors on one of my IM rotations and that's where I want to go. That rotation matters to me. I'm not going to be gunning and wear a mask on my other not so relevant rotations like peds, or psych or surgery lol. I could care less if some surgeon will not have his arse licked by me lol. I'm going to be myself on majority of rotations except those that matter for me. So you are like true in 10% of cases. 90% of time you are lonely and suffering in silence - that is doing damage and I don't think it's good for you man. Besides people see how you behave and I don't think they like it.

LOL

Looks like I struck a nerve...

You don't know me and I obviously don't know you.

I actually have never been happier since starting med school.

I got a good gym routine going, I'm high-passing (always off of honors by 3-4 points) my shelves, learning a **** ton, and actually loving med school so far.

My weekends have been off for the most part and I spend it by kicking it with family and friends I haven't had the time to see in the first two years.

I'm pretty damn happy actually.

To you that may be "lonely" and "suffering"... but I call it FREEDOM. LOL

But hey... if the shoe fits... wear it bro.

I'm not here to make friends... I'm here to learn because my $300,000+ is worth it for me to actually learn medicine... I'm not trying to have a kumbaya with errybody.

I will always continue to do my own thing regardless of what other med students I am with. I believe in respect and kindness first and foremost.

 

[Philosopher Jagger]

For what it's worth... you have to believe people that do this crap will get what they deserve some day. And I don't mean a cushy residency position. Best policy to just...follow policy and let cut-throat gunners stress about always trying to out-perform their peers. Most times that stems from their own insecurities anyway. "Stay in your own lane" comes to mind