If Bradley Cooper gave you NZT-48 to use in classes and for Step 1?...

[Planes2Doc]

I thought this might be a fun thread, especially in the Allo forum, since people in pre-allo are all going to say that they would never do something like this. For those of you haven't seen the movie Limitless, it's a pill that can give you the ability to use 100% of your brain. If you took it, you can get nearly perfect pre-clinical grades, and most importantly a high USMLE Step 1 score, which can be the difference between a top specialty like derm, and then other less-desirable ones.

So if you can use it, would you take it?

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[Psai]

I think we only use 10% of our hearts

 

[Mad Jack]

I think we only use 10% of our hearts

 

[Petrichor1]

no

 

[MatCauthon]

If we could take NZT-48 there are a lot grander things we could do than worry about medical school. NZT-48 would make it so you wouldn't even have to go to medical school. Bradley Cooper can diagnose heart issues in 10 seconds with mere palpation.

More important things I'd be working on:

1. perfecting nuclear fusion for clean energy. Better yet, perfecting LENR or cold fusion
2. Unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics
3. working on a Star Trek transporter for instantaneous travel
4. Perfecting electric-magnetic field devices that eliminate cancer cells, infections ect. Could put big pharma out of business in a flash
5. Perfecting water desalination techniques

 

[Planes2Doc]

If we could take NZT-48 there are a lot grander things we could do than worry about medical school. NZT-48 would make it so you wouldn't even have to go to medical school. Bradley Cooper can diagnose heart issues in 10 seconds with mere palpation.

More important things I'd be working on:

1. perfecting nuclear fusion for clean energy. Better yet, perfecting LENR or cold fusion
2. Unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics
3. working on a Star Trek transporter for instantaneous travel
4. Perfecting electric-magnetic field devices that eliminate cancer cells, infections ect. Could put big pharma out of business in a flash
5. Perfecting water desalination techniques

But how do these things compare to doing derm? 😉

 

[sloop]

I have ADD and take Ritalin. How is this much different?

Asking this question is basically a thought experiment on whether there's anything intrinsically wrong with pharmacological cognitive enhancement.

In my opinion, opposition to pharmacological cognitive enhancement is rooted in a nonsense puritanical vision of acceptable satisfaction only coming from working within your own internal limits. I've never understood this but the belief seems astonishingly common among the general population (esp. Americans). If people can improve their lives by taking something and they choose to do so with knowledge and understanding of potential benefits and adverse effects, why is that anybody else's business?

Of course it will upset people who are unwilling or unable to take whatever substance we're talking about, but who cares? People are not obligated to handicap themselves so that other people don't feel left out.

 

[cbrons]

I for one would not use this substance. I take pride on relying on my own innate skill to-HAHAHAHA sorry couldn't keep that up.

 

[stepone2015]

If that pill is available to everyone, then the people getting derm would be the ones with 300 on Step 1, and the dumb bastards relegated to family medicine would be getting only 299s.

 

[username456789]

Dermatologists aren't even real doctors.

 

[TheShaker]

Dermatologists aren't even real doctors.

I will fight anyone who tries to argue that the skin is a real organ.

 

[zero0]

I don't even have skin.

 

[Mad Jack]

Honestly I wish we'd just open the door up to nootropics already. It's kind of bull**** that we limit drugs to the treatment of disease when we could unlock the limits of human potential.

 

[qw098]

Honestly I wish we'd just open the door up to nootropics already. It's kind of bull**** that we limit drugs to the treatment of disease when we could unlock the limits of human potential.

we don't know long term side-effects

 

[Mad Jack]

we don't know long term side-effects

That's what testing is for. We don't know the long term side effects of amphetamines but we prescribe them to millions of people anyway.

Regardless, even if we knew the side effect profile, drugs are limited to treating disease, not improving human cognition or ability. We could create a pill that made people twice as smart, and the FDA would be forced to check "NOPE" on the application because it can't cure, prevent, or treat any disease.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

I probably wouldn't. I just feel like if I needed it for MS1/MS2 and Step 1, I'd end up getting reliant on it for all the things after, like Step 2 and MS3. Then residency, I'd feel like I'd need it cause I used it in med school...and it sort of goes on. It also helps, I never had a big interest in the competitive specialties though.
But I never was a fan of taking extra stuff like pills, I like relying on myself, just feels more meaningful when I do accomplish something....the rare times I do lol.

 

[Mad Jack]

I probably wouldn't. I just feel like if I needed it for MS1/MS2 and Step 1, I'd end up getting reliant on it for all the things after, like Step 2 and MS3. Then residency, I'd feel like I'd need it cause I used it in med school...and it sort of goes on. It also helps, I never had a big interest in the competitive specialties.

Here's the thing though- what if you could use it to put the right pieces together and be right about every case, every time, in the real world? What if it made you a super physician, like House but not getting it wrong for an hour? Then your choice to not use it would literally be costing lives.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Here's the thing though- what if you could use it to put the right pieces together and be right about every case, every time, in the real world? What if it made you a super physician, like House but not getting it wrong for an hour? Then your choice to not use it would literally be costing lives.

Haha well played sir. I was thinking this would help me get high test scores and honors, not so much benefiting me in a clinical setting. I mean, if that's the case, shouldn't all med students be taking this pill? Or would it only be offered to one person? And considering I'm not the most capable in my class, I feel it would be better to offer it to the top student in our class to get the most out of the pill.

Nonetheless, if the pill had terrible side effects I still wouldn't take it. Even if it made me a super physician.
However, if there was no risk to taking it, and no side effects or harm (which seems unlikely considering how strong this is) and if other physicians were aware of and okay with what I was doing, I'd probably take it. Considering I'm near the bottom of my class...me taking the pill and becoming a super physician would turn into a Captain America situation, which might be sort of bad*** and lives would be saved. But idk if I'd be deserving of that power, while there are other students who work a lot of harder and are likely more capable. I'd offer it up to them. 🙂

 

[Mad Jack]

Haha well played sir. I was thinking this would help me get high test scores and honors, not so much benefiting me in a clinical setting. I mean, if that's the case, shouldn't all med students be taking this pill? Or would it only be offered to one person? And considering I'm not the most capable in my class, I feel it would be better to offer it to the top student in our class to get the most out of the pill.

Nonetheless, if the pill had terrible side effects I still wouldn't take it. Even if it made me a super physician.
However, if there was no risk to taking it, and no side effects or harm (which seems unlikely considering how strong this is) and if other physicians were aware of and okay with what I was doing, I'd probably take it. Considering I'm near the bottom of my class...me taking the pill and becoming a super physician would turn into a Captain America situation, which might be sort of bad*** and lives would be saved. But idk if I'd be deserving of that power, while there are other students who work a lot of harder and are likely more capable. I'd offer it up to them. 🙂

Well, really, if you look at it, there's probably a ceiling to human potential. A pill that brought a person to that ceiling would likely benefit someone who is farther from it than someone who is close to it, so the pills should go to the weaker students, not the stronger ones.

As to the side effects, if I knew I could save a few people, I'd take it regardless of the side effects. I've always been a crazy ****er though, I wouldn't encourage other people to do the same. Plus I'd love to know what it feels like to see the world in absolute logical perfection, that'd be pretty awesome.

 

[W19]

Does that stuff actually work?

 

[Mad Jack]

Does that stuff actually work?

Considering it doesn't exist, no.

Ampakines are the closest thing we've discovered thusfar, though there is some research by DARPA in rats with hippocampal implants that cause literally everything they experience to be encoded into long-term memory.

 

[username456789]

Does that stuff actually work?

Would Bradley Cooper lie to you?

 

[W19]

Considering it doesn't exist, no.

Ampakines are the closest thing we've discovered thusfar, though there is some research by DARPA in rats with hippocampal implants that cause literally everything they experience to be encoded into long-term memory.

Lol... I am really disconnected with the real world!

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Well, really, if you look at it, there's probably a ceiling to human potential. A pill that brought a person to that ceiling would likely benefit someone who is farther from it than someone who is close to it, so the pills should go to the weaker students, not the stronger ones.

As to the side effects, if I knew I could save a few people, I'd take it regardless of the side effects. I've always been a crazy ****er though, I wouldn't encourage other people to do the same. Plus I'd love to know what it feels like to see the world in absolute logical perfection, that'd be pretty awesome.

Well said, if the potential limit is the same, then I agree, a weaker student like me could benefit more.

But, those side effects would stop def me. I'm glad you're willing to do it, cause I wouldn't if the risks were there haha.

 

[W19]

Would Bradley Cooper lie to you?

Anything that can get me 100% on my next micro and pharm exams deserves a good look... Too bad Bradley Cooper is lying!🙁

 

[MedBreak]

forget medicine, i would try to be president or something 😏

 

[Nasrudin]

Yeah med school would be trivial.

I'm with madjack. I'd take the pill. Or the the whatever. I'm a half step up from a spear chucking hominid. And I live on blue green ball hurtling through a galaxy. Looking up at starlight that took a hundred million years at speed of light to twinkle in my sight.

Whatever the next step is. I'm not prepared in this dull monkey minded state.

Whatever it takes to hurtle us forward. I've lived a good life already, I volunteer for mind expansion experimentation on live humans.

 

[Kaustikos]

Considering it doesn't exist, no.

Ampakines are the closest thing we've discovered thusfar, though there is some research by DARPA in rats with hippocampal implants that cause literally everything they experience to be encoded into long-term memory.

So, take out my amygdalia and replace with extra hippocampus.

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[Law2Doc]

I've seen interviews with Bradley Cooper. He needs it more than most of us... Let him keep his stash.

 

[Oh_Gee]

I thought this might be a fun thread, especially in the Allo forum, since people in pre-allo are all going to say that they would never do something like this. For those of you haven't seen the movie Limitless, it's a pill that can give you the ability to use 100% of your brain. If you took it, you can get nearly perfect pre-clinical grades, and most importantly a high USMLE Step 1 score, which can be the difference between a top specialty like derm, and then other less-desirable ones.

So if you can use it, would you take it?

do you watch the TV show? i might take it if i get an unlimited supply and the shots so i don't get the bad side effects lol

 

[Planes2Doc]

do you watch the TV show? i might take it if i get an unlimited supply and the shots so i don't get the bad side effects lol

Nope I haven't seen the show, but know about it! I'm currently involved with other shows now. There's only so much you can do with your limited brain power. 😛

 

[Señor S]

Hell yes I would

 

[lifeforall]

I'm pretty sure they call it by its street name now, Adderall.

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[Montisumo]

forget medicine, i would try to be president or something 😏

To be president you would need a pill that undoes your intellect. Try any one of the current psych medications (except adderall), should do nicely.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm pretty sure they call it by its street name now, Adderall.

I'm pretty sure the street name is "placebo".

 

[soon2BdocC]

I'm pretty sure the street name is "placebo".

Aka 'sugar'

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[lcm2020]

We could create a pill that made people twice as smart, and the FDA would be forced to check "NOPE" on the application because it can't cure, prevent, or treat any disease.

Market it as a supplement.

 

[Mad Jack]

Market it as a supplement.

Ah, but the trouble is you can only market certain things as supplements. If it was synthetic and lab-tested, you'd have to market it as not for consumption, much as they do with other synthetic things (such as cannabinoids and bath salts). And it is likely the FDA would quickly crack down and force them to go through an approval process if it reached widespread use.

 

[lcm2020]

Ah, but the trouble is you can only market certain things as supplements. If it was synthetic and lab-tested, you'd have to market it as not for consumption, much as they do with other synthetic things (such as cannabinoids and bath salts). And it is likely the FDA would quickly crack down and force them to go through an approval process if it reached widespread use.

There goes my chance of being the next Dr Oz.

Bummer

 

[Doctor Bob]

Here's the thing though- what if you could use it to put the right pieces together and be right about every case, every time, in the real world? What if it made you a super physician, like House but not getting it wrong for an hour? Then your choice to not use it would literally be costing lives.

Since this is all hypothetical anyways, but thought experiments like these can be fun regardless...

If such a drug existed, and taking it made you a superdoc, and not taking it could (as you suggest) cost lives... then would you be in favor of mandatory use?

 

[soon2BdocC]

Since this is all hypothetical anyways, but thought experiments like these can be fun regardless...

If such a drug existed, and taking it made you a superdoc, and not taking it could (as you suggest) cost lives... then would you be in favor of mandatory use?

Eh, I hate making anything mandatory. But in the current medicolegal climate, it would probably be a requirement.

Think about if the patients took it and then went on Wikipedia <shutters>

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[Doctor Bob]

Eh, I hate making anything mandatory. But in the current medicolegal climate, it would probably be a requirement.

Think about if the patients took it and then went on Wikipedia <shutters>

Hehe... we'd have to keep it out of the hands of patients.

But ok, is there any other field where taking a drug is mandatory?
How would you feel, as a doctor, being required to take a drug that isn't physiologically necessary, but someone says you're substandard if you don't. Or withholds your license?
Would we mandate that everyone take it? Lawyers? Pilots? Only people in certain jobs but we declare other jobs don't need the brain power?
What if there's a side effect (say... one in a hundred million people die from the drug). Would we as a society accept that risk so that the other 99,999,999 people are "better"? What if it's 1:10,000,000 or 1:1,000,000? When is the ratio unacceptable?

 

[ridethecliche]

At first I thought that said AZT.

 

[Dredge]

But ok, is there any other field where taking a drug is mandatory?

There is. It's called professional athletics and probably the same thing would happen to us as them. One kid would start taking it, bar gets raised, everyone has to take it just to get hired. Quality of medicine will be great and every one in a few million doctors explode.