Minority experiences in Med School

BU Medical Sciences
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bdc142 said:
Hi all,
I'm a pre-med and was wondering if any minorities (Asians, African Americans, Hispanics etc.) had any comments about racism at medical school (do older attendings have somewhat racist attitudes being from a different generation? do med students of certain racial groups stick to themselves?). I realize that school experiences vary on a regional basis.

Thanks for any responses. I've used the search button by the way, but they have mainly focused on underrepresented minorities..
Click to expand...

From what I've observed, med students of certain racial groups absolutely stick to themselves, almost to a fault.
 
bdc142 said:
Hi all,
I'm a pre-med and was wondering if any minorities (Asians, African Americans, Hispanics etc.) had any comments about racism at medical school (do older attendings have somewhat racist attitudes being from a different generation? do med students of certain racial groups stick to themselves?). I realize that school experiences vary on a regional basis.

Thanks for any responses. I've used the search button by the way, but they have mainly focused on underrepresented minorities..
Click to expand...

Lol

Can SDN please restrict posting in allo to med students only?
 
I've never experienced any racism at an interview or a medical school that I knew of. Most people in medical school are nice and thankfully intelligent enough to be open to different cultures. I'm sure there are racists in medical school, but I'm willing to bet the rate is much less than in normal society.
 
cbrons said:
Lol

Can SDN please restrict posting in allo to med students only?
Click to expand...

Medical students tend to post here, so if I wanted to know about life at medical school, I think it's somewhat logical that I would post here.

Edit: well just checked your post history, you seem to be a huge troll, so it's all good.
 
bdc142 said:
Medical students tend to post here, so if I wanted to know about life at medical school, I think it's somewhat logical that I would post here.

Edit: well just checked your post history, you seem to be a huge troll, so it's all good.
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U want us to support your victim mindset, theres plenty of that everyday in preallo for ya
 
FunnyCurrent said:
How would this be implemented exactly?

Deans letter confirming enrollment?
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Honor system, people w medical student status. Would be far from perfect but itd at least keep a lot of the otherwise honest but know it all premeds out, which are the worst types. In preallo topics about socalled racism,sexism, this-ism, that-ism are raised everyday, why is this thread any different? I vote this thread more suitable for preallo. Lots of med students post there
 
bdc142 said:
Medical students tend to post here, so if I wanted to know about life at medical school, I think it's somewhat logical that I would post here.

Edit: well just checked your post history, you seem to be a huge troll, so it's all good.
Click to expand...

Look up top son.

"Allopathic MD student topics. For current medical students."

This means not you.
 
Nope, havent faced any racism anywhere (asian).

The professors always treat me with the biggest smile, are extremely respectful and willing to help. The students are great as well.

Strangely our school has lots of cliches but no racial cliches (except the africa-american group, not trying to be be racist, just pointing out an observation that the OP is asking for).

Spanish, caucasians, chinese, koreans, russians, indians, etc. Everyone kind of hangs out with everyone at my school.
 
sommerwing said:
Nope, havent faced any racism anywhere (asian).

The professors always treat me with the biggest smile, are extremely respectful and willing to help. The students are great as well.

Strangely our school has lots of cliches but no racial cliches (except the africa-american group, not trying to be be racist, just pointing out an observation that the OP is asking for).

Spanish, caucasians, chinese, koreans, russians, indians, etc. Everyone kind of hangs out with everyone at my school.
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I think the word you're looking for is "cliques", not "cliches." Unless everyone really is a walking stereotype at your school.
 
I met this one attending (not from my school) that really hated anyone from Micronesia. Especially the Yapese. Man, he would go on for hours about them. "They sit there on Yap contributing NOTHING to global society! Who do they think they are? You can't use stones as money! Idiots!" etc. It was crazy.
 
dr zaius said:
I met this one attending (not from my school) that really hated anyone from Micronesia. Especially the Yapese. Man, he would go on for hours about them. "They sit there on Yap contributing NOTHING to global society! Who do they think they are? You can't use stones as money! Idiots!" etc. It was crazy.
Click to expand...

It's actually 607 small islands in the South Pacific. Interestingly, while its total land mass is only 270 square miles, it occupies more than a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. Population is 127,000 and the U.S. Embassy is located in the state of Pohnpei and not, as many people believe, on the island of Yap.
 
You'll make friends with people who you like, and you won't make friends with those you don't like.

In terms of outward racism from those above you, it's very doubtful. Especially if you're Asian. If people above you are racist towards Asian, it will have come out prior to your admission and they'd be dealt with accordingly. When you're an over-represented minority, people being racist to you eventually gets reported.

If you feel like you are being discriminated against by a professor in medical school, 1) Talk to your friends about the situation that you went through and see if you still feel as strongly., then 2) Talk to your dean about the situation
 
kpcrew said:
Look up top son.

"Allopathic MD student topics. For current medical students."

This means not you.
Click to expand...

pwned-DH.jpg
 
Using status to insult those lower than you, the medicine way!!!!
 
bdc142 said:
Hi all,
I'm a pre-med and was wondering if any minorities (Asians, African Americans, Hispanics etc.) had any comments about racism at medical school (do older attendings have somewhat racist attitudes being from a different generation? do med students of certain racial groups stick to themselves?). I realize that school experiences vary on a regional basis.

Thanks for any responses. I've used the search button by the way, but they have mainly focused on underrepresented minorities..
Click to expand...

Not so far. And cliques tend to form sure, and racial groups tend to stick together sometimes, but not always.

The only time I had anyone being racist towards me was someone of the same race, where there are hierarchies in a sense of who is better/not, obviously depending on which side you came from. First and only time it's happened to me.

So no, for all intents and purposes, OP. We have waaay too much other stuff to worry about - with the fire hydrant amounts of info thrown at us. It's more beneficial to stick together. But still watch out for the gunners.
 
Racial cliques occur in and outside of medical school.

Maybe I'm being stereotypical and racist when I say this, but I feel like I've seen Asians do this the most. They seem to really love to stick with each other in their own separate group in everything. I just wish they'd include me because I love Asian culture lol
 
Akali said:
Racial cliques occur in and outside of medical school.

Maybe I'm being stereotypical and racist when I say this, but I feel like I've seen Asians do this the most. They seem to really love to stick with each other in their own separate group in everything. I just wish they'd include me because I love Asian culture lol
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Nah, by far it's the African Americans in my class. There's a serious clique of like 8-10 of them that I would see in class at times. That's not to say all of them were in it though, there were 2-3 that were on the outside who hung out with a diverse crowd.
 
I see white people hanging out with white people all the time. What's with that racial clique? There's like a group of like 100 of them that always sit together in the classroom. Totally messed up man.
 
evilbooyaa said:
Nah, by far it's the African Americans in my class. There's a serious clique of like 8-10 of them that I would see in class at times. That's not to say all of them were in it though, there were 2-3 that were on the outside who hung out with a diverse crowd.
Click to expand...
I've noticed groups of single race cliques of white people, Asian ethnicities, and black people, just like I saw in undergrad. I'm surprised how quickly people establish their groups, to be honest.
 
kpcrew said:
I see white people hanging out with white people all the time. What's with that racial clique? There's like a group of like 100 of them that always sit together in the classroom. Totally messed up man.
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Haha! Nice. But it's true that people tend to stick with their race. It's just funny that minorities are the ones that have to branch out to be considered not in a clique. 🙄
 
kpcrew said:
I see white people hanging out with white people all the time. What's with that racial clique? There's like a group of like 100 of them that always sit together in the classroom. Totally messed up man.
Click to expand...

It's a double standard sure, and there are definitely 'white only' cliques, but most white people hang out with a diverse crowd of Indian and Asian.

I don't care that they are set up as a clique, just posting my experience.
 
MedicalStudent5 said:
Using status to insult those lower than you, the medicine way!!!!
Click to expand...

The pre-vet's counterattack against medical students!

I tend to avoid posting in the allo forum unless something is interesting that makes sense to me (sadly very little. 🙁)
 
I don't get why certain people tend to be exclusively together with their own race and ignore everyone else. Especially if they have little to nothing in common.

It's one thing to have a group of friends that is your own race, but it seems weird to seek friends simply because of that one fact, and ignore all other races.
 
KnuxNole said:
I don't get why certain people tend to be exclusively together with their own race and ignore everyone else. Especially if they have little to nothing in common.

It's one thing to have a group of friends that is your own race, but it seems weird to seek friends simply because of that one fact, and ignore all other races.
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I think people tend to form groups initially based on the most conspicuous/superficial things they see, and race just happens to be that a lot of the time. I have actually deliberately sought not to do this my entire life - middle school, high school, college. I didn't think it was just, even if it was "natural."

It's not easy though. Went through my entire teenage/young adult life pretty much without a crew and just flying solo w/ only a few select handful of friends.
 
punkedoutriffs said:
I think people tend to form groups initially based on the most conspicuous/superficial things they see, and race just happens to be that a lot of the time. I have actually deliberately sought not to do this my entire life - middle school, high school, college. I didn't think it was just, even if it was "natural."

It's not easy though. Went through my entire teenage/young adult life pretty much without a crew and just flying solo w/ only a few select handful of friends.
Click to expand...

I feel like a lot of people are resistant to becoming close friends with people that don't look like them because they assume they'll have vastly different interests/cultures/personalities. Kind of sucks for me, being racially ambiguous and all.
 
NoNotYouLionel said:
I feel like a lot of people are resistant to becoming close friends with people that don't look like them because they assume they'll have vastly different interests/cultures/personalities. Kind of sucks for me, being racially ambiguous and all.
Click to expand...

I usually find that superficial little kids are the ones that do this. I hang out with a very small profile of people that are very diverse and embrace cultural differences.
 
punkedoutriffs said:
Went through my entire teenage/young adult life pretty much without a crew and just flying solo w/ only a few select handful of friends.
Click to expand...

Same. I ended up with 2000 acquaintances in high school/college and no "close" friends. It's been lonely at times, but I don't mind really.
 
NoNotYouLionel said:
I feel like a lot of people are resistant to becoming close friends with people that don't look like them because they assume they'll have vastly different interests/cultures/personalities. Kind of sucks for me, being racially ambiguous and all.
Click to expand...

That's a bit unfortunate there are people like that. I definitely understand the need to find people of similar interests and personality types, but you can't always judge people accurately by looking at them. You miss out on meeting such amazing people if you don't give them a chance. Even people of the same race might have a different upbringing and be different than what you expect. That's one thing I loved about undergrad, so many different types of people interacting together, and also to find people with similar interests you haven't found in a small HS group.

And I am right there with you on the racially ambiguous part haha. I always check the "other" option on every form growing up in school 😱
 
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