Pre-Med Biggest Pet Peeves

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
At one of my interviews I had a fellow interviewee asking this of everyone.

Seriously? How did everybody respond to him/her? :scared:

Members don't see this ad.
 
It's just a typical premed attempt to belittle a competitor. Many premeds can't help it. It's a part of their psyche. Plus, he's been here 5 months and already has over 1200 posts. His posts don't have to contribute or make sense, just as long as that post count keeps going up.

You nailed it. I figured if I can hit 5000 before march I can send a letter of update to the schools telling them.
 
Not a pet peeve about premeds, but a pet peeve as a premed - when people tell you that nursing is SOO much harder than going to med school and being a doctor. :smuggrin:
Nursing=4 years of school
MD=8 or more years of school PLUS residency = another 3+ years

If it seriously takes over twice as much schooling and instruction, do you seriously think it is easier?!?!?!

Don' think so. *grumbles*
 
Members don't see this ad :)
There was a guy in one of my classes who would always ask you how you did on exams. I hate telling people exact numbers, high or low, so I just give general statements.

Anyway, I picked up this guy's exam for him because he missed class, and this is the conversation that we had when I gave it to him (probably not the exact numbers, but they're ballpark):

Him: "So how did you do?"
Me: "I did pretty well."
Him: "No, I mean compared to my score?"
Me: "Oh I don't know, I didn't look at your exam."
Him: "Really? I got an 88. I think I could've done better, but I guess it's alright since the average was only an 82. Come on, what'd you get?"
Me: "96."
Him: Oh...........=/
Me INSIDE: BAHAHAHAHA!

HAHAHAHA!! I love it.
 
:rolleyes:



It's just a typical premed attempt to belittle a competitor. Many premeds can't help it. It's a part of their psyche. Plus, he's been here 5 months and already has over 1200 posts. His posts don't have to contribute or make sense, just as long as that post count keeps going up.

:laugh:
 
Not a pet peeve about premeds, but a pet peeve as a premed - when people tell you that nursing is SOO much harder than going to med school and being a doctor. :smuggrin:
Nursing=4 years of school
MD=8 or more years of school PLUS residency = another 3+ years

If it seriously takes over twice as much schooling and instruction, do you seriously think it is easier?!?!?!

Don' think so. *grumbles*

Yea I've gotten that a couple times as well.

On a similar note, does anyone know how the difficulties compare between getting into pharmacy school and medical school? My ex-girlfriend and I were playfully fighting about this the other day and i was just curious.
 
Not a pet peeve about premeds, but a pet peeve as a premed - when people tell you that nursing is SOO much harder than going to med school and being a doctor. :smuggrin:

lolwut.

People say this? l o l w u t. No waaay. Nuts.
 
The scrubs thing I don't have an issue with because the people I knew wearing it really did just get off work when they wore it or had class between work. they were often people who were secretaries or in a clinical research lab or patient care technicians or medical assistants. It is fine by me so long as they didn't stink or something.

Some people just wear it because it is comfortable.

That said my pet peeves:

1. People who need to fake their ECs or lie about their credentials. I know a few.
2. People who constantly complain about every single professor and their mother but can't find any good in a professor.
3. People who ask irrelevant questions to flex their knowledge and come off as total tools.
4. People who think they saved the world by their less then a month single trip or 2 to a developing nation but spent no real significant amount of time i.e. a year or several months consecutively to show a real impact in the region.
5. People who want to start organizations but no do work just so they canover exagerrate on their applications.
6. Out right arrogance or presumptious people who think they know everything about a person when they don't know the tip of the iceberg in many cases.
7. Arrogant people who think they know everything and can just get in med school based on connections. I love it when it backfires on them. Esp. when they don't have the credentials.
8. socially inept uber gunners who think the world revolves around them and can't understand why people stop talking to them.

This is just a few.
 
Not a pet peeve about premeds, but a pet peeve as a premed - when people tell you that nursing is SOO much harder than going to med school and being a doctor. :smuggrin:
Nursing=4 years of school
MD=8 or more years of school PLUS residency = another 3+ years

If it seriously takes over twice as much schooling and instruction, do you seriously think it is easier?!?!?!

Don' think so. *grumbles*

we were having a biology department social and while I was talking to this girl

Her: So what do you want to do with biology?
Me: I'm hoping to someday go to medical school
Her: I'm pre-vet. Did you know the getting in to vet school is harder and more competitive than medical school? they only accept 26 people every year and there are only 9 schools in the country.. blah blah blahhh
Me: ...

The thing is, I never really asked her what she was doing and she started lecturing me how hard it is and what courses she needed to take and was currently preparing for the dreaded GRE! *GASP*:thumbdown:
 
we were having a biology department social and while I was talking to this girl

Her: So what do you want to do with biology?
Me: I'm hoping to someday go to medical school
Her: I'm pre-vet. Did you know the getting in to vet school is harder and more competitive than medical school? they only accept 26 people every year and there are only 9 schools in the country.. blah blah blahhh
Me: ...

The thing is, I never really asked her what she was doing and she started lecturing me how hard it is and what courses she needed to take and was currently preparing for the dreaded GRE! *GASP*:thumbdown:


I once saw this girl (now in med school) who I knew in highschool. Anyhow, it was quite a while after she started med school. I had asked her how she was doing in med school and her response in the bitchiest tone ever was "I'm not going to lie to you, you know it is hard". I mean I know med school is hard. thanks for stating the obvious. What I asked was how she was doing in it. I think there's a difference. It was kinda pathetc. she comes off as arrogant these days.

Vet school is harder to get into but I think she didn't need to start whining.

But I was reminded of another pet peeve....

People who can't figure out how to contact an adcom office by themselves and look at you like you performed magic by telling them who is in charge in those offices. People who can't figure out for themselves how to find opportunties in volunteering and shoadoing. We are adults here.Stop being lazy is what I feel like screaming to these people.
 
my biggest pet peeve is when we complain about other people instead of focusing on improving ourselves.
 
my biggest pet peeve is when we complain about other people instead of focusing on improving ourselves.


so you're complaining about other people complaining about other people?

I find that amusing...
 
Members don't see this ad :)
1) Wearing scrubs to class....No one gives a **** that you wipe butt for a living, you arent that busy. I am sure you could take 5 minutes to change out of those damn, smelly Scrubs.
Most people I know who do that wear scrubs to class do so only because its an inconvenience for them to have to be worried about what they wear when they're bouncing between school and work :p



My biggest pet peeve is with the medical education system. They want people to be mother teresas and have a seamless transition from every single step of your life to the next until you're in medical school. Unfortunately, most of the time being mother teresa in America while going to school full time requires being in good financial standing. And, having this life that is pefectly planned out from high school to medical school often requires parents and other influences in ones life to provide direction. So, essentially a self perpetuating cycle of professionals creating professionals and only accepting professionals has run amock, IMHO.
 
I'm failing to see what's wrong with this, other than the fact that he wanted everyone to know he's gonna be a doctor!!!
I guess I was annoyed that he thought getting into med school was as easy as paying them a bunch of money. Although it seemed like he also thought picking a specialty in med school is like picking a major in undergrad...as in whatever you're interested in the most when you start.
 
1) Those pre-meds who bring their Kaplan book to class and pretend to read it before class to show everyone they are studying for the MCAT. No one cares. Studying for the MCAT doesn't make you a doctor.

2) and what about those gunners who not only run to class to get a front seat but also have the arrogance to save a whole row of seats for their friends. Man I hated those kids (not for being gunners but for saving those seats)

3) Those pre-meds who think another's success equals their failure. Don't you realize the class isn't curved???? let me see those old exams you dumb…s.


4) Those pre-Pharm, pre-dent students who go through heaven and hell to attempt to persuade every pre-med they meet that pharmacy or dentat school is harder than medical school. No one cares buddy but thanks.
 
Last edited:
I'm very glad we are not dating. You put a parenthetical phrase at the end of a sentence without using the proper punctuation. Needless to say, your attractiveness is hereby disregarded. After all, our only romantic interactions will be on the computer!!!

Awww, you look hot in your avatar.

But I guess I did deserve that! :)
 
One of my biggest pet peeves as an undergrad was working with other premedical students on group projects. Ugh, it seemed like I always got stuck with ridiculous control freaks. The girls I worked with on one project constantly treated me like I was stupid for no reason at all.
 
people who do extracurriculars for the sole purpose of looking good and completing the "unofficial prereqs".
So that'd be...all of us? Not very many people would do anything but schoolwork during college if they weren't required to. I sure as hell wouldn't have.
 
Had a guy tell me that he was a shoo-in to get into our state school because "he'd put his ECs up against anyone else in the state and blow them out of the water". Thing is, I interviewed this guy for a job on campus a couple of months prior and it was the absolute worst interview I had ever witnessed. Hope he doesn't crack like that in his med school interviews.
 
Awww, you look hot in your avatar.

But I guess I did deserve that! :)

Haha o bb. <3 But we can still do it though, right? X)


So that'd be...all of us? Not very many people would do anything but schoolwork during college if they weren't required to. I sure as hell wouldn't have.

See, this is the kind of attitude that bothers me. For schoolwork -- whatever. Not wanting to do schoolwork, I don't mind that that at all. However, volunteering at a hospital (for example) just to get into med school and not doing it for its own sake? Ughhhh. I don't think this attitude makes for a wonderfully well-rounded doctor at all. Key words: well-rounded. It's alright; those kinds are quite rare, I think. Plus, it makes you look like a complete tool who succumbs to the sort of mania surrounding a (seemingly) good lot of premeds. "OMG GUYZ I FINALLY COMPLETED THIS VOLUNTEERING THING AT THIS HOSPITAL I hope med schools will finally love me :[ :[ :[ :[ :[ lol o wut is inpatient stuff again~? that'll get me into ~*~*med school*~*~ rite?"
 
See, this is the kind of attitude that bothers me. For schoolwork -- whatever. Not wanting to do schoolwork, I don't mind that that at all. However, volunteering at a hospital (for example) just to get into med school and not doing it for its own sake? Ughhhh. I don't think this attitude makes for a wonderfully well-rounded doctor at all. Key words: well-rounded. It's alright; those kinds are quite rare, I think. Plus, it makes you look like a complete tool who succumbs to the sort of mania surrounding a (seemingly) good lot of premeds. "OMG GUYZ I FINALLY COMPLETED THIS VOLUNTEERING THING AT THIS HOSPITAL I hope med schools will finally love me :[ :[ :[ :[ :[ lol o wut is inpatient stuff again~? that'll get me into ~*~*med school*~*~ rite?"

Being a physician and volunteering are very different. Just because they both occur in hospitals doesn't mean they go hand in hand. There are so many rules handicapping what one can do when volunteering that oftentimes it leaves much to be desired. But we do it anyway so it can go on our AMCAS.
 
Being a physician and volunteering are very different. Just because they both occur in hospitals doesn't mean they go hand in hand. There are so many rules handicapping what one can do when volunteering that oftentimes it leaves much to be desired. But we do it anyway so it can go on our AMCAS.

lolz

Not my point at all, whatsoever -- but ok.
 
5) pre-meds who can't stop complaining about affirmative action as if affirmative action alone kept them out of medical school.
 
See, this is the kind of attitude that bothers me. For schoolwork -- whatever. Not wanting to do schoolwork, I don't mind that that at all. However, volunteering at a hospital (for example) just to get into med school and not doing it for its own sake? Ughhhh. I don't think this attitude makes for a wonderfully well-rounded doctor at all. Key words: well-rounded. It's alright; those kinds are quite rare, I think. Plus, it makes you look like a complete tool who succumbs to the sort of mania surrounding a (seemingly) good lot of premeds. "OMG GUYZ I FINALLY COMPLETED THIS VOLUNTEERING THING AT THIS HOSPITAL I hope med schools will finally love me :[ :[ :[ :[ :[ lol o wut is inpatient stuff again~? that'll get me into ~*~*med school*~*~ rite?"
Who told you that volunteering is necessary for a well-rounded doctor? You know what I did during my hospital volunteering? I transported patients at one hospital and changed ER beds at another. Whoopty-freakin'-doo. That's sure going to make a hell of a lot of difference in my ability to be a doctor, and both experiences have helped me grow markedly as a person. Get real. I enjoy helping people, but I'd much rather do it by healing them than moving them. You can't do the former legally without some sort of professional degree, though, and that's why I'm in school. Seriously, I can't begin to express how utterly absurd connecting volunteerism with professional aptitude is. Do you ask your teachers if they volunteered? Your lawyers? Your garbage men? Anyone? That idealism has got to go. It's great if you enjoy volunteering and would do so even if you weren't required to. However, thinking that it somehow makes you a more complete person and will make you a more complete doctor is foolish.

Also, this:
Being a physician and volunteering are very different. Just because they both occur in hospitals doesn't mean they go hand in hand. There are so many rules handicapping what one can do when volunteering that oftentimes it leaves much to be desired. But we do it anyway so it can go on our AMCAS.

That leads me to 2 pet peeves:
1) Pre-med idealism. Holy crap.
2) De facto volunteerism requirements. My volunteering, while often enjoyable, was a massive waste of time. Get a job so you have some responsibility and receive some relevant training.
 
Who told you that volunteering is necessary for a well-rounded doctor? You know what I did during my hospital volunteering? I transported patients at one hospital and changed ER beds at another. Whoopty-freakin'-doo. That's sure going to make a hell of a lot of difference in my ability to be a doctor, and both experiences have helped me grow markedly as a person. Get real. I enjoy helping people, but I'd much rather do it by healing them than moving them. You can't do the former legally without some sort of professional degree, though, and that's why I'm in school. Seriously, I can't begin to express how utterly absurd connecting volunteerism with professional aptitude is. Do you ask your teachers if they volunteered? Your lawyers? Your garbage men? Anyone? That idealism has got to go. It's great if you enjoy volunteering and would do so even if you weren't required to. However, thinking that it somehow makes you a more complete person and will make you a more complete doctor is foolish.

Reading comprehension ftw. It's the attitude with which you delve into something, not what you delve into itself. Comparing proficiency in volunteering with proficiency in doctoring is absurd indeed. The attitudes that you approach both with, however, are absolutely connected -- unless you happened to change your mindset by time you became a doctor.
 
Ah, aren't we humble? ;) So everybody told the guy his/her stats instead of ignoring him or were you the only one? :annoyed:
nah most were just like..I did well enough to get an Interview here.. A couple might have actually told him, idk.
 
You can be extremely gung-ho about making beds, but you're still going to be making beds. The idea behind requiring volunteerism is that it imparts clinical experience and shows a willingness to serve the community. Regardless of how you approach your volunteering, putting the activity on your resume will show the latter, and the experience will be just as useful/less.
 
nah most were just like..I did well enough to get an Interview here.. A couple might have actually told him, idk.

You avatar reminds me of this......

michelin%20baby.jpg


Totally off topic I know.....
 
Reading comprehension ftw. It's the attitude with which you delve into something, not what you delve into itself. Comparing proficiency in volunteering with proficiency in doctoring is absurd indeed. The attitudes that you approach both with, however, are absolutely connected -- unless you happened to change your mindset by time you became a doctor.

I spend my entire bio class fiddling around on my computer, but it doesn't mean that in the future I will spend my clinic hours doing that. You are seeing connections where there are none.
 
6) pre-meds in the pre-med society. I could never stand being around those guys/gals. That was part of the reason I decided to major in physics rather than bio.
 
Who told you that volunteering is necessary for a well-rounded doctor? You know what I did during my hospital volunteering? I transported patients at one hospital and changed ER beds at another. Whoopty-freakin'-doo. That's sure going to make a hell of a lot of difference in my ability to be a doctor, and both experiences have helped me grow markedly as a person. Get real. I enjoy helping people, but I'd much rather do it by healing them than moving them. You can't do the former legally without some sort of professional degree, though, and that's why I'm in school. Seriously, I can't begin to express how utterly absurd connecting volunteerism with professional aptitude is. Do you ask your teachers if they volunteered? Your lawyers? Your garbage men? Anyone? That idealism has got to go. It's great if you enjoy volunteering and would do so even if you weren't required to. However, thinking that it somehow makes you a more complete person and will make you a more complete doctor is foolish.

Also, this:


That leads me to 2 pet peeves:
1) Pre-med idealism. Holy crap.
2) De facto volunteerism requirements. My volunteering, while often enjoyable, was a massive waste of time. Get a job so you have some responsibility and receive some relevant training.

hahaha Premed idealism is another big pet peeve of mine. God my list is growing longer and longer. haha.. But yeah I used to get annoyed when my one of my best friends from college always got on her idealism bubble about how she was going to save the world. In the end she decided against medicine when reality started to sink in. There are very few who i can actually see being mature enough to work in the kind of capacities that she claimed to want to work in.

which brings another pet peeve of mine......premeds who are gungho about talking about saving every single poor person and their mother with no real world understanding of how the world works in terms of needing money to even be able to do that.

People who act like medicine is a big calling from god rather then a job albeit one which requires a lot of dedication and time and sacrifice.
 
You can be extremely gung-ho about making beds, but you're still going to be making beds. The idea behind requiring volunteerism is that it imparts clinical experience and shows a willingness to serve the community. Regardless of how you approach your volunteering, putting the activity on your resume will show the latter, and the experience will be just as useful/less.

I agree completely with what you said. Yes, the volunteering will show a willingness to serve the community. Yes, yes yes. I don't know why you think I'm saying nay.

What I'm saying here: I can't stand it when premeds volunteer with their intention being the sole purpose of getting into med school, and letting their experience stop short there. (Mind you, willingness to do something doesn't always mean the intention is genuine.) There's something horribly superficial about it. When they don't apply any of that knowledge to their actual med school careers -- that really hits my peeve buttons (let's pretend those things exist, haha). They were too wrapped up in getting this requirement out of the way so they could ~totally get some sweet hours in~, and now, they can't remember jack. That, right there, is the reflection of a mindset. An attitude. A way of thinking about things.

And why did that even happen in the first place? Mindset. It's a mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to satisfy a paranoia of not getting into med school. I don't like this mindset. A mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to get into med school? Whatever. I don't mind this mindset. A mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to satisfy a paranoia of not getting into med school? No. I don't like this mindset.

I simply don't like the mindset. That is simply that.

There's some rhetoric for you there too, buddy. I'm hoping it gets my point across this time. If not, oh well.


I spend my entire bio class fiddling around on my computer, but it doesn't mean that in the future I will spend my clinic hours doing that. You are seeing connections where there are none.

Oh f-ing sigh. Again, it's the attitude.

Just because you spend all bio class fiddling on the computer does not necessarily mean you will spend your future clinic hours doing that. There's no question there. However, the attitude you have that influences the clicking around in bio class (habitual inattentiveness, thinking the class is a waste of time, etc) can carry over into other things in the future. For example, you may draw doodles when you take ochem. Why? Because the attitude of habitual inattentiveness, or treating ~easy~ classes as a waste of time, etc, may still be ingrained in you. By time you reach residency, you would hopefully outgrow it -- and that's why you wouldn't spend your future clinic hours fiddling on the computer. See what I'm trying to say here, broski?

You are Yoda though, so I really can't go up against your infinite wisdom. Tehehe.
 
Most people I know who do that wear scrubs to class do so only because its an inconvenience for them to have to be worried about what they wear when they're bouncing between school and work :p

I used to get really annoyed at people who wore scrubs around, especially at school. Then I started working at the hospital and on my way to work I'd stop in Walmart and buy my lunch, or stop somewhere else on the way home and pick up something I need. Now I realize that sometimes it's not only a matter of convenience, but it would be stupid and a waste of time to go home and change first just so I wouldn't be one of those people. I try to give those formerly annoying students the benefit of the doubt.
 
Hospitals should just bite the bullet and provide everyone scrubs and do all laundering in house. I passed a lady when I was leaving a takeout restaurant today in scrubs. I knew she was probably sent to get dinner for the rest of the people at the hospital. I can't be sure there isn't something on those scrubs that is a health risk.
 
I used to get really annoyed at people who wore scrubs around, especially at school. Then I started working at the hospital and on my way to work I'd stop in Walmart and buy my lunch, or stop somewhere else on the way home and pick up something I need. Now I realize that sometimes it's not only a matter of convenience, but it would be stupid and a waste of time to go home and change first just so I wouldn't be one of those people. I try to give those formerly annoying students the benefit of the doubt.
ehh maybe..but there are restrooms..its not like its a hug inconvenience to bring along a t shirt and shorts and change in the bathroo. It takes all of 2 minutes.
 
Maybe when I'm an attending I should sleep with my lab coat on, scrubs underneath, Bergey's in one pocket, Palm in another, scope around my neck, and pager on my sternum so I get the maximum effect of it ringing without going deaf. Then I can wake up, throw on some shoes, and run to the hospital. Oh, maybe sleeping with my contacts in and shoes on will increase efficiency...
 
ehh maybe..but there are restrooms..its not like its a hug inconvenience to bring along a t shirt and shorts and change in the bathroo. It takes all of 2 minutes.

That's definitely something you can do. I don't know if you wear scrubs to work everyday, but for me, that's definitely more work than it's worth for the 5 minutes I spend in Walmart.
 
And why did that even happen in the first place? Mindset. It's a mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to satisfy a paranoia of not getting into med school. I don't like this mindset. A mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to get into med school? Whatever. I don't mind this mindset. A mindset of going over a checklist of things they don't care about in order to satisfy a paranoia of not getting into med school? No. I don't like this mindset.

I'm not sure what the alternitive is here. Are you saying that they shouldn't do the things on the checklist if they don't want to, or that they should force themselves to not only do everything on the checklist but also to like it? Option one sounds like a great way not to get into medical school, but option 2 sounds like a great to lose your friggin mind and annoy 90% of those around you.

I think a "finish the drill" mentality is probably the best possible attitutude for medical school. It's like a marathon: your positive attitude is going to wear out somewhere around the third mile, everything else is determination to 'get it done'.
 
I'm not sure what the alternitive is here. Are you saying that they shouldn't do the things on the checklist if they don't want to, or that they should force themselves to not only do everything on the checklist but also to like it? Option one sounds like a great way not to get into medical school, but option 2 sounds like a great to lose your friggin mind and annoy 90% of those around you.

I think a "finish the drill" mentality is probably the best possible attitutude for medical school. It's like a marathon: your positive attitude is going to wear out somewhere around the third mile, everything else is determination to 'get it done'.


The alternative? Psh, there are countless ways of thinking about a task! For example, they could be doing it for the chicks, which means they have a rather lusty mindset at the present time. A very simplistic example, but it shows that the possible mindsets you can have are infinite. Option 1 sounds like a great way to not get into med school, doesn't it? I agree there. However, this doesn't really annoy me. Option 2 does though, and I'm glad you're able to see how this can be f-ing obnoxious.

Good point with the "finish the drill" mentality, though. A+ to those people and their determination (even if some of them turn into bitter hags). However, some people tend to always have a positive attitude. I'm one of eternal optimists, even though I'm horribly realistic. I like to live out paradoxes, what can I say? X)
 
Funny thing about this. At my undergrad one of the specializations for Biology is Medical Sciences so the degree is Biology: Medical Sciences. I love when people say they are majoring in medicine...
 
Funny thing about this. At my undergrad one of the specializations for Biology is Medical Sciences so the degree is Biology: Medical Sciences. I love when people say they are majoring in medicine...

Another thing I hate: When people call any type of health related training "medical school." There was a chick who dropped out of my undergrad and was getting her CNA, she was complaining to everyone about how tough "medical school" was...
 
Top