katrinadams9 said:
I don't mean to portray Wayne as a bad place... it just makes me angry that the admin claims the atmosphere is so "cooperative" when in all reality we're all working our butts off competing for a class ranking. I'm hoping it'll even out during 3rd and 4th year when we're in the hospital doing rotations. I may not be the best studier or test taker, but I've worked in the hospital before and I know how to treat patients well and get people to like me without kissing ass...
I really can't compare the atmosphere here at Wayne to other schools, b/c I only got accepted here. I'm sure the atmosphere at schools like UMich and other really competitive schools is very similar to what we have here.... I'm just really starting to hate the gunners that drive up our average to the mid-upper 80's.
Ummmmm, well, Katrina, do you see how all of those gunners are heating things up now? Well, you probably can't put the high scores to many of their faces now but you will know them during the clerkship. This is the place many of them will make there "gunnerism" and uncanny ability to answer a pimp question before you can even elevate your tongue known. On the other hand, you will also see those who should just stay in academic medicine and avoid patient care. It is diffilcult to stand out with guys like the former on your team so this is ALSO why a good foundation during the first 2 years and good Step 1 prep is also crucial for preparing for the wards.
As long as you have a good grasp of the material to go along with that awesome personality(some people are just not great test-takers, of course, but know the material well), the great bedside manners and people skill help you to stand out. From what I gathered, a great personality mostly help with for great comments in your evals that can be used for your Dean's Letter. You may get a few honor marks in certain areas but to honor a rotation, often you must show a firm knowledge base and apprropriate clinical skills. The brown-nosers seems to be mostly gunners who have a firm grasp of the material as well as some exceptional az-kissing skills to make up for the few areas where the Attending knows the student should have just gotten a saticsfactory.
The group that was in my rotation had most of the Honor students in the class in that one group. Obviously, It was difficult to honor shelf exams and clerkships with this group.
I think schools with pass/fail systems are better off than a grading system since residency programs can't scrutinize actual grades.
Anyway, you will see your classmates in a different light next year and some of the stuff they pull will really trip you out.
Medical students just tend to be competitive people. Many have grown up competing academically all of their lives. If you ever go to some of the recreational sporting events, you will see the same gunners competing just as hard in a game of basketball or football as you will see in the classroom and they may just cry if they lose.
