Hi!!! (how not to tell people what u study medicine)

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Hero

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I have been a SDN member for a few months. I've spent almost all my time exclusively in pre-allo and the lounge. i got accepted earlier this month and I think it's starting to hit me that i'm really going to be a doctor! :D

Finally I get to add Allopathic in my netcaptor group :)

I have a question: when people ask what you study/what you do, how do you go around telling them that you are studying medicine/going to be a doctor?

I know this is a silly question but for some reason, what I do is very private to me.
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While in med school, I'd usually say I'm a student. If they ask me what I'm studying I'd say biology. Usually this lead to other questions and it would come out that I'm in med school. Now that I've graduated, it'll be pretty hard to hide it without a pretty big lie. I usually tell random people who won't delve further that I work at the hospital and leave it at that.

My reason's for hiding it aren't necessarily that its personal. Its more that a lot of people seem to talk to you differently if you tell them you're going to be a doctor and I don't like that. Plus I hate it when random people ask for medical advice!
 
I just tell them, "that's for me to know and you to find out."
 
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I just say I'm in school, or that I just graduated. It's been working so far! Of course my mom tells everyone she possibly can. :rolleyes:
 
I usually just say I do nothing :D . Which technically is not a lie. If they inquire further I tell them I'm doing nothing because I just graduated. Then if they inquire even further, I just tell them I'm going to med school. Heck! who cares?
 
I like to tell people that I'm in graduate school. If they ask what I'm studying, then sometimes I just say biology, which is true.
 
Hehe, it's not really that tough to dogde question like this. usually I will just say "I am still a student, how about you?" Turn the table around and have the other guy to talk about himself instead. Most people have the tendency of talking about themselves anyway. =)
 
Sometimes I just say, "I am going back to school" and leave it at that.
 
wow....I never thought students would so eagerly HIDE the fact that they're going to med school....

Would anyone mind telling me a few reasons why? I can understand not wanting to answer 2384972 questions about what's wrong with someone. What else?
 
It seems to me that most medical students and recently accepted pre-meds would try to bring up the fact that they were in medical school and not try to hide it.

I'm sure some guy is really going to skirt the issue when some gorgeous girl he's talking to at a club asks him what he does!
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Whisker Barrel Cortex:
• Plus I hate it when random people ask for medical advice!•••••People have been asking me for medical advice for years just because they knew I was interested in medicine. :rolleyes: Most of the time I have to remind them that I really don't know anything!

I'm sure the question asking will get worse once I start school, but I figure its good practice.
 
I agree. This may be the most ridiculus forum conversation I have ever heard. PLEASE tell me why you would put all the hard work into becoming a physician and then HIDE it when people ask!!! Be proud people!
 
When I was still in undergrad I'd tell people I was studying math and physics. They usually don't equate that to medicine. Then when they ask me what I was gonna do I'd tell them I wanted to go to grad school. Nowadays, I just tell them I'm in medicine. I'm in, and I no longer feel the need to hide it, although some people still doubt my abilities to make it!
 
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It?s not ridiculous at all. Telling people that you are a med student often gets a reaction that many of us just don?t like. People treat you differently, make assumptions about you, and it can become uncomfortable. This doesn?t mean those of us who say we are simply students aren?t proud of what we do. It just stops a lot of questions that we may not want to go into.

Incidentally, I usually go with grad student studying biology.
 
When I started college and decided to go into medicine, almost everyone with the execption of my family said There is no way in hell I can become a physician, because it's a lot of hard work and it's very expensive.
Now that I have been accepted, I proudly tell them I'm starting Med school.
 
heck, I was happy to tell people I was going to med school and going to be a doctor. I hate to break it to you, but you are going to be hounded for the rest of your days by people wanting medical advice, and if you don't like talking to people, you might want to think about research. I had a flight attendant last year ask my about a lump on her hand b/c I was studying a lecture on my laptop on the plane. I thought it was kind of cool, even if I had to tell her "Ummm, I don't know"
 
You are all very bizzare! I dont know what kind of people you are friends with or talk to, but i have never, ever, been treated differently. Why would you be??? Is being a doctor or studying to become one make you a star or some kind of God? You people are acting as if you are a movie star hiding themselves for fear of having people ask you for an autograph!! I would LOVE!!!!!!!! for anyone to tell me just how people react when you tell them you are a doctor or are in med school??

P.S. VERY BIZZARE
 
aside from the excess punctuation, I agree. most people these days couldn't care less if you are a doctor or a med student and I haven't felt weird at all. if they have something going on sometimes they'll ask if they should see a doctor about it, but most of the time they look at me with pity b/c people now realize that we've got a long road ahead with long hours and insurance companies to fight with.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by DrBlueDevil:
•wow....I never thought students would so eagerly HIDE the fact that they're going to med school....

Would anyone mind telling me a few reasons why? I can understand not wanting to answer 2384972 questions about what's wrong with someone. What else?•••••Yea i knew this would be a silly question to many of you. It was difficult for me to ask correctly because I wasn't sure if there were others who feel the same way.

Here is one example why: with my mom's friends, it's super annoying. They make you feel like you are only worthy of their daughters because you are going to be a doctor. "oh you are going to be a doctor, you will make the BIG money. let me introduce my (superficial) daughter to you!" no thanks. :rolleyes:

I don't want to be labled i think is the reason why I don't want to tell people. (I'm not 100% sure what i'm feeling, still discovering for myself as this feeling is quite new)

don't get me wrong, being a doctor is a great thing. Many people look up to doctors and they often serve as good examples in society. but not everyone sees it like that.
 
I like it when people ask me about their medical conditions but the "money" thing is really prevalent out there. I've had girls become "nicer" to me after they found out that I was in medical school, people all think that you are either rich or going to be rich (amusing when you have more debt then the avg home owner has without the house), and people think that you are smart and expect you to know common stuff and be good at trivia pursuit (which I stink at). Studies have also shown that doctors do get sued more for non-malpractice reasons because the public perceives them as loaded. All good reasons to avoid the whole medical complication.
 
Hero, I do see where you are coming from. You are probably a very intelligent person and if you weren't going to med school you would probably be doing something else that people would try to give away their daughters to you. Don't hide it. Be proud and work hard!

P.S. If you ever have trouble handling all the girls being thrown at you, SEND THEM MY WAY!
 
I like seeing people's reactions when they ask me, "so, what do you do?" and I just say, "oh, I'm unemployed." Seriously, I don't like telling people that I'm off to med school because I'm a pretty humble person, so I'm sensitive to feeling like I'm boasting or something. But, like the other people said in previous posts, you don't have to hide. It's a nice feeling to fulfill your dreams finally and get on with your life. :cool:
 
It is a personal thing. There are a great number of characteristics that are immediately given away about you once you tell someone you are going to medical school, probably more than any other profession. That said, it doesn't bother me.
 
When I tell people I'm a med student, usually the first thing they then say is "oh, so you're going to be a nurse!". ARGH! I really hate it when people assume that female=nurse. And since when do nurses go to med school? I don't get it. :confused: :mad: :p

If I avoid saying I'm a med student, it's usually because 1. the person I'm talking to is either annoying or not the sharpest crayon in the box and I don't want to tell them much about myself or 2. it's an older person (usually male) who is likely to assume I'm studying nursing...and I don't want to waste my time explaining otherwise.
 
It's always a balance between humility and arrogance or intraversion versus extraversion. Some people are private and may not feel comfortable with the connotations that come along with studying medicine. Others find that this automatically gives them a certain degree of respect. And yet others do not care one way or the other.

I think with me, it depends on the situation. If I'm at some party then saying I'm a medical student isn't going to be the first thing out of my mouth. But if I'm on campus or on the bus and someone asks, then I have no problem.

I agree with the person who said you had better get used to being asked for medical advice. It certainly will happen more and more often as you go through your training. You should just be comfortable in saying "you should go see a doctor about that" and not feel that you have to be a walking clinic. At the same time, physicians do have a certain duty to society in that you may be called upon to assist in certain public "off duty" situations (i.e. someone passes out, choking, heart attack, bioterrorism, etc) This just comes with the territory. :D
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Smurfette:
•When I tell people I'm a med student, usually the first thing they then say is "oh, so you're going to be a nurse!". ARGH! I really hate it when people assume that female=nurse. And since when do nurses go to med school? I don't get it. :confused: :mad: :p

If I avoid saying I'm a med student, it's usually because 1. the person I'm talking to is either annoying or not the sharpest crayon in the box and I don't want to tell them much about myself or 2. it's an older person (usually male) who is likely to assume I'm studying nursing...and I don't want to waste my time explaining otherwise.•••••This is also something you'll have to get used to. Happens all the time, unfortunately. :D
 
Oh yea...maybe I should go back and look for all those cute ladies I couldn't get with back in high school and tell them, I'm going to med school. Maybe I might finally get that something something after all. :D
hahah......
 
I'm with many of the rest of you. When I first got accepted I was working in a hospital. I found when I mentioned to patients what I was going to do, they tended to ask if I agreed with the doctors assesments. Somehow people think going to be a doctor=being a doctor.

Also, as someone else has commented on, as I am currently a single guy, I get tired of the way girls and their mothers react. I try to hide the fact as long as I can. I have too little free time to spend it in superficial relationships.

When people ask about my career, I tell them I have a BS in Zoology, and am now attending graduate school. The conversation usually turns to what a Zoologists does, which I tell them instead of about medical stuff.

As far as when people do ask me for medical advice, I just tell them its terminal with a smile and they usually just laugh. (This is basically just family and friends).

I'm glad to hear I am not the only one that feels this way.

David
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Vader:
•I agree with the person who said you had better get used to being asked for medical advice. It certainly will happen more and more often as you go through your training. You should just be comfortable in saying "you should go see a doctor about that" and not feel that you have to be a walking clinic. At the same time, physicians do have a certain duty to society in that you may be called upon to assist in certain public "off duty" situations (i.e. someone passes out, choking, heart attack, bioterrorism, etc) This just comes with the territory. :D •••••Yeah I didn't mean that I'm going to always avoid answering people's health questions. Being able to one day help out like that is one of the reasons I'm entering medicine. I just meant that during med school, I could see how people would expect you to answer questions you really can't (or aren't licensed to answer...etc etc).
 
I can understand completely your discomfort! Although I love sharing my excitement with my friends and family who have been pulling for me all along the way, it's tough being labeled as a med student. After all, I have lots of other interests! I'm not necessarily defined by medicine--especially since I haven't even started medical school yet. And yes... there are the medical questions (which I don't know how to answer, leaving people wondering what I'm doing in medicine!), as well as the immediate connotation with being rich. Let me tell you, I am FAR from being wealthy, and I won't be well off for a long long time, if ever. I think the main thing is that I want to be known for ME, not my profession, especially when I'm not extremely familiar with it at this point.
 
•••quote:••• Here is one example why: with my mom's friends, it's super annoying. They make you feel like you are only worthy of their daughters because you are going to be a doctor. "oh you are going to be a doctor, you will make the BIG money. let me introduce my (superficial) daughter to you!" no thanks. ••••-Hero
Hero, are you by any chance Asian by descent?? :wink: <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
This might be slightly off-topic but since someone mentioned it I thought I might share :) In my interview, a female faculty member asked what were my strengths and weakness, and my answer was, "I suppose my biggest weakness is that I havent had much luck with girls..." :wink: she smiled and said, "Is that why you want to be a doctor? A MD would certainly help, wouldnt it?" :D We both laughed and knew that although it was meant as a joke, there was slight "hint of truth" in it :lol: BTW, she was a marvelous interviewer, I thoroughly enjoyed her interview
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by HanSolo:
•-Hero
Hero, are you by any chance Asian by descent?? :wink: <img border="0" alt="[Laughy]" title="" src="graemlins/laughy.gif" />
•••••hehehe yea :D :p
 
For those of you that are amazed that some people don't proclaim to everyone they meet that they are or will be a doctor, here are a couple examples of annoying situations:

At a furniture store, I'm looking for a decent mattress that isn't too expensive. The salesman shows me what I'm looking for. I'm still indecisive about the cost of some of the nicer ones, so he starts chit chatting about what I do and I reluctantly tell him I'm a doctor. His response "What are you worried about. Just buy it. Here let me show you some more!" (as he leads me towards the more expensive models).

At a bar, a friend and I start talking to two women. Conversation is going well as we talk about travel, what we do for fun, etc. Then they ask about what we do and we tell them we just graduated from med school. For the next 15-20 minutes, the whole conversation focuses on medicine. One asks advice for her friend who has medical problems. Not exactly what I wanna be doing on a Saturday night.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Smurfette:
•When I tell people I'm a med student, usually the first thing they then say is "oh, so you're going to be a nurse!". ARGH! I really hate it when people assume that female=nurse. And since when do nurses go to med school? I don't get it. :confused: :mad: :p

•••••This happens to me occasionally too, but it doesn't really offend me. I'm glad to be able to enlighten people that med school = doctor, not nurse, and that doctoring is not a man's job anymore. People seem impressed when I tell them I'm going to be a doctor. To date, I've had no one react in a negative way when I tell them what I do ("women shouldn't be doctors," etc.).
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Amy:
•This happens to me occasionally too, but it doesn't really offend me. I'm glad to be able to enlighten people that med school = doctor, not nurse, and that doctoring is not a man's job anymore. People seem impressed when I tell them I'm going to be a doctor. To date, I've had no one react in a negative way when I tell them what I do ("women shouldn't be doctors," etc.).•••••I'm glad there are female doctors. I perfer female doctors myself.
 
smurfette,
smiles
I totally know what you're talking about your response made me laugh....
 
I had no idea people ever called a school that trained nurses, a medical school.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Hero:
•I have been a SDN member for a few months. I've spent almost all my time exclusively in pre-allo and the lounge. i got accepted earlier this month and I think it's starting to hit me that i'm really going to be a doctor! :D

Finally I get to add Allopathic in my netcaptor group :)

I have a question: when people ask what you study/what you do, how do you go around telling them that you are studying medicine/going to be a doctor?

I know this is a silly question but for some reason, what I do is very private to me.•••••First of all, congratulations on your acceptance! Your parents must be very proud. :wink:
As far as your dilemma is concerned, I thought about it a lot, and was hoping to give you some really insightful advice because I like to think that I'm a very humble person and would want to keep the whole doctor thing as low key as possible. But the more I thought about, I'm really not that humble. In fact, I think sub-consciously I TRY to bring up the whole medicine gig in probably every conversation I have. Quite frankly, at this point, it's all that's on my mind. And really, when I worked at a shoe store, when people asked me what I did I said, "I sell shoes." No big whoop. When I'm in med school, when people ask, "What do you do?" I'll say,"I'm in med school." Honestly, if they ask you what you do and you say you're a student, you know what you're studying and the reason for studying it are inevitable questions. So why not just come out with it. Come on. You deserve it. Look how hard you've worked to get to this point. Stand up and proud of what you've achieved.
As far as the negative things that come with admitting your guilt of ambition (ie the inane conversations on moles in unsightly places, etc), think of yourself like a moviestar. They completely lose their private lives due to their craft. A loss of privacy is their price to pay for their craft; stupid conversations about tennis elbow are yours. :wink:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by none:
•I had no idea people ever called a school that trained nurses, a medical school.•••••They don't. But people who don't know anything about medical training and have an old-school perception of the field (i.e. doctors are men and nurses are women) hear a woman say she's studying medicine and assume that means nursing. I like to knock down the misconceptions one uninformed person at a time. :D
 
Smurfette, I get the nurse thing all the time. The best time (sarcasm here) was when an old man was congratulating my boyfriend on being accepted to medical school and the road to being a doctor. He then asked what his gf was doing and he said "She's going to medical school too." and the man said "Oh, so she's going to be a nurse." Apparently medical school for boys and girls are different!

Anyway, the response I always get is "So what kind of doctor do you want to be?" I have no idea what I want to be--I'm interested in many things, but how can a person make a decision until they've seen the different types of medicine firsthand?? People are astounded that you don't have to know when you start school. I'm going to start telling them proctologist just so they'll shut up :wink: .
 
barb, that was very inspiring :) I feel like telling everyone now. :D

Ugh, the other night I was in a club and this guy asked me what I was doing next year, and I said medical school. He had dislocated his shoulder weight lifting, so he said, "good! you can be my nurse!" :rolleyes: I hate that.

All together, I think it depends on who you're talking to. I have no problem telling family and friends, but if I tell a complete stranger, I feel like I'm bragging or showing off. :rolleyes: Now I let people play 20 questions until they get it. :wink:
 
i think bragging or showing off would be volunteering that you will be a doctor without anyone asking.

the best policy is to be up-front and honest without beating around the bush. if i'm asked what I will be studying, I say medicine. this is a good thing because you can learn how to respond to some of the sterotyped reactions.

in terms of superficial relationships, i've been quite amazed at how girls react to the fact that I will be stuyding medicine. no joke, I've had three girls tell me they like me "that way" and want to see if we can start a relationship. funny how they only felt this way after the prospects of me becoming a doctor.
 
KyGrlDr2B:
I used to really struggle when someone asked me that too...I would say primary care but then, he/she would invariably ask for the details, "I'm going to do internal medicine...or well, maybe Peds...or ObGyn, yeah, delivering babies....blah blah blah blah (as if I have any idea what I'm talking about)
"SO, what kind of doctor are you going to be?" she patiently asks again...
Now when I get this question I have a canned answer that seems to work: I smile and say: "I'm keeping an open mind about it"
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by danyela:
•
Now when I get this question I have a canned answer that seems to work: I smile and say: "I'm keeping an open mind about it"•••••I'm pretty sure what I want to go into (Emergency Med), but when people ask what kind of a doctor?" and I don't want the cracks about being on the TV show "ER", I just tell them "Hopefully a good one". :)
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by danyela:
•KyGrlDr2B:
I used to really struggle when someone asked me that too...I would say primary care but then, he/she would invariably ask for the details, "I'm going to do internal medicine...or well, maybe Peds...or ObGyn, yeah, delivering babies....blah blah blah blah (as if I have any idea what I'm talking about)
"SO, what kind of doctor are you going to be?" she patiently asks again...
Now when I get this question I have a canned answer that seems to work: I smile and say: "I'm keeping an open mind about it"•••••That's a good one, can I steal it?? :D
 
no problema, senorita :)
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by jlw2004:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by danyela:
•
Now when I get this question I have a canned answer that seems to work: I smile and say: "I'm keeping an open mind about it"•••••I'm pretty sure what I want to go into (Emergency Med), but when people ask what kind of a doctor?" and I don't want the cracks about being on the TV show "ER", I just tell them "Hopefully a good one". :) •••••Hey - I get that too. I'm interested in doing a combined Peds/EM residency maybe and so people say "So you're going to be like Doug Ross?" I just smile and say, "I guess so... except less hairy and not as rich." :wink:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Mary Jane Watson:
[QB
[/qb]••••Hey - I get that too. I'm interested in doing a combined Peds/EM residency maybe and so people say "So you're going to be like Doug Ross?" I just smile and say, "I guess so... except less hairy and not as rich." :wink: [/QB][/QUOTE]

That's what I like to hear. Honest, to the point, and with a bit of sass. You go girl! :wink:
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Doctora Foxy:
•barb, that was very inspiring :) I feel like telling everyone now. :D

Ugh, the other night I was in a club and this guy asked me what I was doing next year, and I said medical school. He had dislocated his shoulder weight lifting, so he said, "good! you can be my nurse!" :rolleyes: I hate that.

All together, I think it depends on who you're talking to. I have no problem telling family and friends, but if I tell a complete stranger, I feel like I'm bragging or showing off. :rolleyes: Now I let people play 20 questions until they get it. :wink: •••••Foxy, since you're cute you will always get the nurse thing. I mean, how unfair is it to the rest of the world for a few chosen people to have beauty and brains? And men, even when it's not intentional, probably feel a bit disarmed (although I'm sure greatful) when you have both, so to put themselves at ease, they have to diminish your intellectual capacities however they can (not that nurses have lesser intellectual capacities, please no one take offense). I have an amazing ability to be incredibly bad looking on some days and totally different on others and I notice when I look bad, people assume I'm smart. When I'm fixed up, people (mostly men) assume I'm just another "dumb blond." And I've experimented with this on several occasions, and the treatment is like night and day. However, if I had to choose, I'd rather be cute and underestimated - makes me more dangerous, so they won't have their guard up when I replace them as chief of neurosurgery. :wink:
 
I didn't read the whole thread but I also don't like to tell people I am in medical school...well to certain people anyway. There are several reasons. The first one is anonymosity - telling people that I am in medical school in the relatively small city I live in is practically inviting stalkers. Secondly, people treat you very differently once they know who you are - even the smallest/innocent gestures can be turned into "gee, that doctor is so arrogant." Third, I don't feel like representing my school/profession every second of my life - sometimes I just want to relax and not think about "being a doctor" for awhile. So, when I go out, unless its absolutely neccesary, I say something to the line of "I am getting my doctorate in biology" or "I am working on my graduate degree in biology." Both of which aren't lies. Usually, biology sounds so boring/foreign to most people that they stop asking any more questions. If so, tell them about the TCA cycle. That will stop questions pretty good.

Oh yeah, and there is that "marry a doctor" mentality. Once some girl's mom knows you are a doctor (or a doctor to be) - oh my god. And if you should be not interested in pursuing the relationship - OH MY GOD!!!
 
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