Overweight people a URM in medical school?

[DarknightX]

A lot of you apologists are missing the point. Yes, there are a few people with medical conditions that cause them to be fat, and I think we're excluding them from the conversation. For the most part, obesity is a lifestyle choice. Being obese is no different than being a smoker or a drinker; your vice in this cause is just food and a lack of exercise (again, I am excluding those who have predisposing conditions, which is a small percentage of the obese in America). If you choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle, then you should live with the consequences.

People need to take personal responsbility for their actions, period.

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[masterofmonkeys]

While everyone continues to point out the laziness or other lifestyle traits that result in a fat people it is important to remember that some people have medical conditions causing weight gain- thyroid, adrenal and reproductive hormones can mess up the entire body!

Also, some patients have to take steroids on a regular basis for different conditions (one that comes to minds in Crohns disease)- I have a friend who put on 50 lbs just because she was taking steroids to keep her colon from flaring up.

I understand the grips and know that these conditions are a minority but please remember that is a possibility!

I have and endocrinology disease- I kept putting on weight- it led to an eating disorder *in high school* even though I barely lost weight... please please please know that there is a psychological effect on overweight individuals just for being fat and being judged...

I have lost weight (over 50 lbs) since my diagnosis and treatment began a year and a half ago (thank God) but I look at those who are obese in a whole new way after my experiences.

I occasionally need to pop 5mg of prednisone. One pill will add about 2-3 lbs of bodyfat to me. It's outrageous.

I empathize deeply with you and ideally, a doctor will screen their patient for lifestyle/diet (especially the overfat). If a patient has gained 20lbs in the past 6 months and complains to me about it, but isn't exercising and eats junk, no endocrinologic abnormalities are not at the top of my differential. But if they tell me that they do try to eat healthy and exercise, i'll dig deeper and see what they're doing (looking namely for too much steady-state low intensity cardio or too few calories). When they are eating healthy and lead an active lifestyle and still gaining weight, I sit up and pay attention. Caught a case of hypothyroidism (only symptom was weight gain) that way.

 

[mjl1717]

1) What you have for breakfast?.."Just a cup of tea"

2) "Im watching my food" [translates to Im watching my food as I eat it]

3) Fat person at the gym watching someone with serious dietary and excercise regimen... "Oh dont lose too much weight now"

 

[sunset823]

The fat-phobia on this thread is disgusting. Yes, there are unhealthy behaviors that are typically associated with being overweight, but looking at the med students I know, they hardly represent an exceptionally healthy group, so I find it very sad to see yet another arrogant, judgmental thread pop up. Most med students I know look to be within normal body weight ranges and many are physically active, but many that I know also eat like crap, get too little sleep, drink like fish, and many take prescription drugs illegally (adderall, ritalin, ambien etc). Not only that, but it's perfectly possible to be very healthy (low LDL, high HDL, stable blood sugar, good cardio, strength and flexibility), all while having extra body fat.

There is far, far more to health than body weight/body fat - the other factors just aren't as quick and easy to judge. Get in the habit of looking more deeply, instead of relying on social prejudices, particularly if you want to toot your own horn about how disciplined, smart and hard-working you are - ponder that the next time you binge drink after an exam or spend 18 hours cramming before an exam because you weren't disciplined enough to study consistently during the lead up. A 5 year old learns not to judge a book by its cover - get back to basics.

Also, BMI and calipers suck.

Thank you Lacheln! I am overweight (and Asian, to boot - talk about defying stereotypes) but in a recent wellness screening I scored a 93/100 - and I've seen med students who have the most unhealthy habits I've ever seen who 'look' fine - as future doctors, y'all gotta realize that there's much more to health than what's skin deep

And I definitely think there's discrimination against overweight people in med schools, but it would also depend on location - fat people at UCSF? doubt it - in Toledo, OH? probably

 

[indo]

Yep, med students tend to be in better shape, smoke less, and eat healthier than the general public. They are also have a 2-3x high likelihood of suicidal ideation.

You win some, you lose some.

this appears to go away sometime during residency...not the suicide thing.

 

[indo]

Good, so seriously those in denial be AWARE that it IS possible to lose 1 lb per week..

I lost 10 lbs in one night once. A little self-dicipline and some contaminated re-heated rice goes a long way when it comes to achieving intravascular depletion via the bowel.

 

[KnuxNole]

Wait, what's wrong with being over 5'2 and weighing around 95 lbs?

 

[indo]

Wait, what's wrong with being over 5'2 and weighing around 95 lbs?

By "over 5'2" " do you mean 5' 11"?

 

[KnuxNole]

Yeah, I guess for someone 5'11 and sub95, that would be a bit off-balance

But someone 5'4 -5'5 and little over that...is that really dangerously bad?

 

[doc2beIRELAND]

gonna bump this instead of starting a new thread...
there are 2 v large people in my class and a few paunch-eys. Advising patients on cholesterol and nutrition is a bit of a joke I would have thought HOWEVER then I remember I do enjoy the occasional binge drinking session and cigarette so I am a but of a hypocrite too, considering I just spent a month on the liver ward...

 

[Lubeckd]

hmmm, I realize this in the pharmacy school interviews as well o.o.

 

[circulus vitios]

I went from a BMI of 36.6 to 25.5 over a two year span. It wasn't difficult to lose that much weight (~80 pounds.) Eat less garbage food and work harder.

 

[High Roller]

Lots of interesting viewpoints.

Just wanted to agree with and emphasize the points on physical activity. People spend a lot of time on their butts. Internet, video games, TVs, cars, studying, etc... Heck I'm here typing on an internet site when I could be out biking. Go figure. 20 years ago we weren't so saturated with electronic stimulants.

And while I think diet is equally important, I think most folks understand the principles. Most people know a Big Mac and Soda is generally bad for you, while a chicken vegetable salad isn't. I think exercise is where we miss the mark as a society. Not sure how go about fixing it, but its really taken a back seat in this country.

And yes I think being an obese doc is hypocritical. Looks like your priorities are screwed up and it sets a bad example. It might sound harsh and discriminatory, but obesity is seen in a negative light by most everyone.

So if anyone gets offended reading what I typed, go out for a run. You'll feel a whole lot better

Good discussion though.

 

[serendipity513]

*This is way longer than I thought it would be, but I thought it was a perspective worth putting out there. If you get through all of it then you are a champion and deserve a cookie...wait, make that a rice cake.*

Is it easy to lose weight? Physically, yes. Educate yourself about exercise, work out more than you have been, eat less junk and add more nutritious foods to your diet and...bam, you're a thinner, healthier person. Mentally? Hell No, it isn't easy.

Weight loss and psychology are intimately linked. Saying "Just get off your ass and lose some weight" doesn't really address all the reasons why someone may be overweight. Sure it could be that they just want to play video games or mess around online all day, but there are so many other reasons for obesity and once someone IS obese/overweight they can develop very deep-seeded psych issues that can take a lifetime to get over (which is why I'm a firm supporter of youth physical eduction and health programs. If you don't become overweight in the first place, then you don't have to deal with that).

I'll give my own experience as food for thought:

I was an overweight child/teen/young adult and a few years ago I went from a 16 to an 8, and I could write a dissertation on how people started treating me differently once I got within my healthy weight range.

While I enjoyed many of the perks of losing weight (looking better, having more energy, people being nicer to me, shopping wherever I wanted and knowing it'd fit), I couldn't handle going from being practically invisible my entire life to being "seen".

Before, I' go to college parties and simply observe how all the guys would treat the girls they thought were hot. They could care less that I was standing right next to my best friend as they flirted with her (I didn't care about being flirted with, I just wanted to confirm that I was actually a person and not a ghost.). They'd never make eye contact with me, and even if I responded to something that was said (or if my friend tried to include me), the guys would never acknowledge me. But after losing the weight....I suddenly became one of those girl they hounded after, they'd make eye contact, they'd hang on every word I said...and getting that much attention scared the crap out of me, which lead me to put it all back on.

Life as a thin person comes with a different set of rules and social skills that overweight adolescents may not get a chance to learn. Some overweight people just aren't mentally prepared to be thin yet, which is the reason for a lot of bounce-back weight gain IMO, especially if you've been overweight your whole life, like I was. Later, I lost weight again and was much better prepared for it because I knew what to expect.

Additionally, some people (especially young women) put on weight because they were abused and they see weight as a protective covering. Saying "just be more active!" to those people won't work because you are asking them to give up the thing that makes them feel safe. Because like I mentioned above, being overweight has a way of making you socially invisible, and for some victims of sexual assault, that is exactly what they want to be.

You can never know exactly what's going on in someone else's life. While they could very well just be lazy over-eaters, they could not be economically able to buy healthy food (health food is quite expensive), they also could have a legitimate medical issue such as hypothyroidism or PCOS, they may have deep psychological issues that need to be addressed or they may be trying really hard to get into proper shape but be going through a knock-down-drag-out fight with their genetics. This is can include overweight physicians and med students. Unless we have access to their medical history or talk to them about their past, we have no idea which one of these it is, so any snap judgement has the potential of misrepresenting what's really going on.

 

[VenusinFurs]

A good number of residents are a bit on the overweight side. A lot of them have had babies though, so.

After step 1 I felt super chubs. I weighed myself today, and I weighed exactly the same.

It sucks to be short, imo, because its much harder to stay within your ideal body weight.

 

[Miscbrah]

Off-topic: screw BMI. i have a BMI of 26 and alaska21 probably has a BMI of 30

 

[VenusinFurs]

Off-topic: screw BMI. i have a BMI of 26 and alaska21 probably has a BMI of 30

That was not off-topic.

 

[FutureDr8429033]

Off-topic: screw BMI. i have a BMI of 26 and alaska21 probably has a BMI of 30

Dude, it's a guideline. If you're a bodybuilder or an athlete with 5% body fat it doesn't apply to you. That doesn't make it less helpful.

 

[mrwesticles]

It's a combination of a lack of overweight applicants and a general guilt that comes with being in medical school.

The people in my class who were overweight lost a lot of that weight. I guess there is something that comes with advising patients to look after their health better that makes students more cautious about themselves.

 

[mTOR]

Off-topic: screw BMI. i have a BMI of 26 and alaska21 probably has a BMI of 30

lol NPR did an entire segment on how bogus it is not too long ago.

But w/e...

There are a lot of lolwut.jpg things about American medicine (eh, tends to happen when profiting off of the sick is prioritized over things that actually make sense, like keeping people healthy).

 

[aaj117]

I have definitely noticed this to be the case in my med school as well-- i came into med school with a BMI of exactly 25 and was one of the heavier girls here. I gained a lot of weight due to some medical problems (and then had some medical problems due to my weight). While there are definitely people with higher BMIs in my class, it's because they are solid muscle-- like body builder type men-- because we all know that BMI isn't the best measure. As far as obesity goes though, I have definitely noticed (especially now that I'm so heavy) that I am one of only two or three people in my class of 140.

 

[mulzstl]

I was wondering why the same standards weren't held for nurses. You see a ton of overweight nurses

 

[PsychEpathic]

See below.

 

[PsychEpathic]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TaFXjIIU1k[/YOUTUBE]