Proud Parents

[Crayola227]

My proudest moment was getting National Merit Semi-Finalist, 99.5th percentile PSAT master race. It's all been downhill from there. Still waiting on getting to the top .5% in income commensurate with my PSAT score and I think I'll be waiting a long time

0/10 humblebrag

really has nothing to do with this thread

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[PhillyMed777]

My proudest moment was getting National Merit Semi-Finalist, 99.5th percentile PSAT master race. It's all been downhill from there. Still waiting on getting to the top .5% in income commensurate with my PSAT score and I think I'll be waiting a long time

It's too bad there isn't a place on one's financial statement for PSATs

 

[Brahnold Bloodaxe]

0/10 humblebrag

really has nothing to do with this thread

Yes it does! Prior to my post, the discussion had moved towards the topic of medical school acceptance signifying membership in the cognitive elite. My post was a tongue in cheek response to that.

 

[Theseus]

My parents are so proud that they already found me about 6 women (aka potential spouses) and encourage me to meet with them. I'm flattered.

 

[Yadster101]

Don't worry. Once you fail your first quiz, exam, assignment and call home crying about wanting to quit, you'll look back and laugh at this thread. Jk...you won't be laughing again for a while.

 

[chenopods1]

Dude, the only study I know/have seen that specifically looked at IQ by profession had physicians with a median IQ just over 120 which was higher than the other categories and the interquartile range was on the smaller end.

On average, physicians are just about the smartest professional group there is (without trying to break people into ridiculously small subsets like "yeah, but what about Nobel Laureate Nuclear Physicists?").

I think it'd be interesting to break things down into sub-fields...I'd be surprised if physicists' IQs don't tend to exceed doctors.'

 

[sloop]

I think it'd be interesting to break things down into sub-fields...I'd be surprised if physicists' IQs don't tend to exceed doctors.'

I wouldn't. I don't doubt that many physicists are very intelligent, but the barriers to entry and general competitiveness of the fields are just not the same. For better or for worse, American culture very strongly pressures high-achieving science students to go into medicine, not physics. So many people want to get into medical school that people are weeded out at almost every step in the pathway. We have formal, standardized exams we have to pass to graduate. PhD students have exams but they're generally not standardized.

The processes are different. I think the problem people have with understanding this is that they think that the difficulty of the subject matter is going to be the strongest factor predicting the intelligence of its practitioners. We could argue about whether medicine or physics is harder (I actually don't think that's as easy a question as some do), but it really doesn't matter. The institutional and social factors involved here are very likely to be far stronger than the impact of the inherent difficulty of the subjects.

 

[Brorthopedic]

They love you and they're showing you. Soak it in, enjoy it. One day they'll no longer be around to shower you with their love and you'll look back at times like these and remember how proud they were of you.

Damn dude, right in the feels

 

[Penn-mdphd]

Also, try meeting some MIT, caltech, berkley, and stanford engineering type grads. Would blow the water out of 50% of med students..

I'm sure med students at UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, and Hopkins would also blow the water out of 50% of med students...just saying lol

 

[eteshoe]

I would imagine my mom would be the bragging one of my parents. Since my dad went down a similar academic training path, he's always a solid sounding board when I feel overwhelmed. For now I'm just chugging along knowing that until I finish residency + fellowship + get an attending job, I'm no more than a guy who seems to like school/medicine, pain, and research more than the avg joe.

 

[chenopods1]

I wouldn't. I don't doubt that many physicists are very intelligent, but the barriers to entry and general competitiveness of the fields are just not the same. For better or for worse, American culture very strongly pressures high-achieving science students to go into medicine, not physics. So many people want to get into medical school that people are weeded out at almost every step in the pathway. We have formal, standardized exams we have to pass to graduate. PhD students have exams but they're generally not standardized.

The processes are different. I think the problem people have with understanding this is that they think that the difficulty of the subject matter is going to be the strongest factor predicting the intelligence of its practitioners. We could argue about whether medicine or physics is harder (I actually don't think that's as easy a question as some do), but it really doesn't matter. The institutional and social factors involved here are very likely to be far stronger than the impact of the inherent difficulty of the subjects.

Still curious

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely love my parents...

I'm starting med school this fall and they are over the moon proud of me. I'm happy that I have made them so happy. But their "proudness" is starting to get out of hand. Every time I am introduced to someone, the first thing out their mouths is "he's going to medical school." When we get together with friends or family, the fact that I am going to medical school is brought up early and often. What really bothers me is that when we are together with my four other siblings, the conversation is absolutely dominated by my going to medical school, even if we're together to celebrate someone else's accomplishments. Even better is when they refer to me as Doctor, even in jest.

I'm not sure how to go about dealing with these situations. For now, I just try to act humble, answer the typical questions everyone asks when they learn I'm going to medical school (so...what are you going to specialize in?), and change the subject as quickly as possible. As far as my siblings go, I just try even harder now to strengthen my relationships with them and act "normal," i.e. not talk about medical stuff and focus more on them. What I really fear is becoming resented by my siblings. Right or wrong, I'd be hard pressed to blame them if they did given the current course of things. I'm sure I'm hardly the only person to experience this, so I was wondering how others have dealt with the proud parent(s).

I feel your pain. Honestly this whole, "hes going to be a doctor" thing has ruined some great social opportunities because I was being perceived as a show off even if my relatives are the ones parading me around.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

I'm sure med students at UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, and Hopkins would also blow the water out of 50% of med students...just saying lol

dang, I figured they might blow med students out of the water, but to literally blow water out of them is some next level stuff

 

[Penn-mdphd]

dang, I figured they might blow med students out of the water, but to literally blow water out of them is some next level stuff

Lmfoa, trueeeee. It'd be quite a sight to see.

 

[Redpancreas]

Let me preface this by saying that I absolutely love my parents...

I'm starting med school this fall and they are over the moon proud of me. I'm happy that I have made them so happy. But their "proudness" is starting to get out of hand. Every time I am introduced to someone, the first thing out their mouths is "he's going to medical school." When we get together with friends or family, the fact that I am going to medical school is brought up early and often. What really bothers me is that when we are together with my four other siblings, the conversation is absolutely dominated by my going to medical school, even if we're together to celebrate someone else's accomplishments. Even better is when they refer to me as Doctor, even in jest.

I'm not sure how to go about dealing with these situations. For now, I just try to act humble, answer the typical questions everyone asks when they learn I'm going to medical school (so...what are you going to specialize in?), and change the subject as quickly as possible. As far as my siblings go, I just try even harder now to strengthen my relationships with them and act "normal," i.e. not talk about medical stuff and focus more on them. What I really fear is becoming resented by my siblings. Right or wrong, I'd be hard pressed to blame them if they did given the current course of things. I'm sure I'm hardly the only person to experience this, so I was wondering how others have dealt with the proud parent(s).

It's a good position to be in that I've experienced to a much milder degree. I think they best way to handle it is not confront it because it may hurt your parents. However, later, if they ask you for medical advice for friends and family, be very clear to them that you are not a physician and won't be qualified to make clear medical judgments for a very long time. In regards to your siblings, I think it's important that you let them know that your not letting this get to your head because they may or may not be fostering resentment for their parents attitudes and hearing your take may help.

 

[Merely]

Dude, the only study I know/have seen that specifically looked at IQ by profession had physicians with a median IQ just over 120 which was higher than the other categories and the interquartile range was on the smaller end.

On average, physicians are just about the smartest professional group there is (without trying to break people into ridiculously small subsets like "yeah, but what about Nobel Laureate Nuclear Physicists?").

I HIGHLY doubt that, link please. I can name SEVERAL groups that are probably much smarter: pretty much any scientist, math graduates, pilosophers, etc.

Edit: Oops you said professional group so all the things I mentioned above don't count, nvm carry on

 

[sloop]

I HIGHLY doubt that, link please. I can name SEVERAL groups that are probably much smarter: pretty much any scientist, math graduates, pilosophers, etc.

Edit: Oops you said professional group so all the things I mentioned above don't count, nvm carry on

Why would you think these things? The road to becoming a doctor in America is simply more competitive than any of those groups, and the selection at every step is theoretically predominantly merit-based.

I studied philosophy in undergrad, philosophy honor society membership, 4.0 philosophy GPA, the whole 9 yards. Most of my professors were extremely intelligent (and one of them even told me, near graduation, that I would have made a great colleague which was very flattering, but anyway . . .)

That said, there was a lot more variability and I'm certain that on average they are less intelligent than physicians. I had one philosophy professor who could speed read a passage of Hegel they hadn't read before and immediately explain precisely what he meant (trust me, this takes a tremendous amount of verbal intelligence and logical aptitude, as well as intuition because, IMO, Hegel is just kind of a bad writer in some ways). On the other hand, I had one professor who was simply obsessed with the technological singularity (i.e. OMG ROBOTSZZ!!?!) and spent his research time writing pop philosophy books about "Philosophy and [Television Series]."

Honestly, in most academic pursuits, it's completely possible to make a career out of passion and a proclivity for some random esoteric ****. A lot of these people are probably intelligent. I just don't think it's strictly required like it is in medicine where merely being an above average student with an interest in the field doesn't get you very far.

 

[Merely]

Why would you think these things? The road to becoming a doctor in America is simply more competitive than any of those groups, and the selection at every step is theoretically predominantly merit-based.

I studied philosophy in undergrad, philosophy honor society membership, 4.0 philosophy GPA, the whole 9 yards. Most of my professors were extremely intelligent (and one of them even told me, near graduation, that I would have made a great colleague which was very flattering, but anyway . . .)

That said, there was a lot more variability and I'm certain that on average they are less intelligent than physicians. I had one philosophy professor who could speed read a passage of Hegel they hadn't read before and immediately explain precisely what he meant (trust me, this takes a tremendous amount of verbal intelligence and logical aptitude, as well as intuition because, IMO, Hegel is just kind of a bad writer in some ways). On the other hand, I had one professor who was simply obsessed with the technological singularity (i.e. OMG ROBOTSZZ!!?!) and spent his research time writing pop philosophy books about "Philosophy and [Television Series]."

Honestly, in most academic pursuits, it's completely possible to make a career out of passion and a proclivity for some random esoteric ****. A lot of these people are probably intelligent. I just don't think it's strictly required like it is in medicine where merely being an above average student with an interest in the field doesn't get you very far.

I say it because philosophy requires critical thinking skills, something that medicine does not. Medicine is about memorization, pure and simple. You can memorize your way to becoming a doctor, but you cannot memorize your way out of providing reasons and a rationale for your argument as a philosopher.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I say it because philosophy requires critical thinking skills, something that medicine does not. Medicine is about memorization, pure and simple. You can memorize your way to becoming a doctor, but you cannot memorize your way out of providing reasons and a rationale for your argument as a philosopher.

What sloop is stating is more about what it takes to get into medical school, not what it takes to practice medicine. This is why there is a large cohort of highly intelligent people on average. If you take away this barrier, the IQs of those entering and practicing medicine would decrease (then again fluid intelligence is a lot more telling than IQs).

 

[Merely]

What sloop is stating is more about what it takes to get into medical school, not what it takes to practice medicine. This is why there is a large cohort of highly intelligent people on average. If you take away this barrier, the IQs of those entering and practicing medicine would decrease (then again fluid intelligence is a lot more telling than IQs).

Listen friend, you are not going to find a study that will show that people entering med school are, on average, smarter than people who go into graduate physics, philosophy, or math. If you do, I would LOVE to read that study because it would be mind blowing to me personally. I'd also like it because i'm in med school lol

 

[eteshoe]

Listen friend, you are not going to find a study that will show that people entering med school are, on average, smarter than people who go into graduate physics, philosophy, or math. If you do, I would LOVE to read that study because it would be mind blowing to me personally. I'd also like it because i'm in med school lol

To be dead honest some of the smartest people I came across have been the math majors from my UG (and the physics/math double majors). The people who were so scary book smart that they were socially dumb - I have no problem admitting I'm not that level of smart. Getting into med school takes intelligence, but the system is set up such that you don't need the raw intellectual/creative ingenuity that it takes to compete a theoretical physics PhD to be successful in med school.

 

[coldcase331]

Every Jewish kid I grew up with in NY who went to med school had to deal with the same thing.

Amen!


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